Barcelona - Duke of York's

ATG have emailed me back to say

Sounds like ATG! When £3.95 is almost 16% of the ticket price (at £25) and you’ve already paid your membership they are somewhat taking the proverbial with this. Good on you for challenging it.

Maybe Dave B is right and this will review badly, but I hope not because I LOVED this.

Yes, unlike Bess Wohl's previous two-hander at the Old Vic, "Camp Siegfried" (which considered how Nazis are made), this doesn't address big topical questions, but it's very entertaining.

DO NOT OPEN DAVE'S SPOILER COMMENT UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN THIS THOUGH, AS IT REVEALS THE BIG TWISTS.

And, yes, as every well written two hander demands, there are big twists which, in my opinion, are very well done.

This show reviewed poorly previously, and I think I know why: the female character is very difficult to like. Lily Collins is peerless casting for this role, as making unlikeable likeable (watch any episode of Emily blundering through Paris) is her wheelhouse, and she does brilliant comic work here to redeem this character for the audience.

Alvaro Morte is also terrific, as Dave B suggested, in more dramatic ways

Some spoilers follow. . .

The set-up is that Lily Collin's character meets Alvaro Morte's Manuel in a tapas bar and goes back to his place right away. She may or may not be in danger as not only doesn't she know him from Adam, but his apartment has no running water and is cluttered with boxes. So far, so sinister.

And then she proceeds to be very unlikeable: calling Manuel Manolo continuously, dissing Canadians, mistaking Italian for Spanish, bragging about being American and waving away 100,000 dead in Iraq like they're nothing. . .

This stuff grated on me. Anyway, Bess Wohl intends you to like, or learn to like this character, and my guess is that Lily Collins is the first actress to play the part who can actually pull off this seemingly impossible alchemical transition.

How she does it is by physical comedy, falling and pretending not to, giggling in unpredictable well-timed comic waves, dancing to Usher's "Yeah" with sudden abandon while inappropriately encroaching on the pensive Morte's space (he is more into Puccini than Usher, anyway lol). It was her Usher dance that made me start to like her, as it made me laugh. . .

Anyhow, Collins succeeded in getting me to like her character enough to worry about her, and from then on, the comedy and the drama worked an absolute treat for me, with Morte's gravitas an absolute marvel (I felt his emotions very deeply when he expressed them).

Lynette Linton completely succeeds in milking every laugh and every deep emotion out of the material in this production by creating sparks between the two characters.

Wohl has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and the way two very different characters speak, and these actors embody all of it.

A very entertaining show. 4 enthusiastic stars from me, whatever the critics say lol.

I've just spotted a few 2 stars (guardian, stage, timeout currently doesn't show stars but the review is pretty negative) but then also a few 3 stars and a 4 stars.

The Time Out review wasn't even a review, it read like a catty mean blog post on a forum. 

Critics just enjoy being snobby because it wasn’t anything groundbreaking or deep or intellectual but it was so FUN. Sometimes things can just be entertainment and entertaining it was (subjectively of course!!!). So happy I saw it before reviews came out. I’ve recommended it to all my friends who enjoy Emily in Paris lol. Lynette, Lily and Alvaro couldn’t have done anymore with the material.

Eating McDonald’s etc is all ok in moderation






But seriously I hear what you’re saying, especially as critics see tonnes of shows. But I haven’t seen a piece of theatre so straightforward, easily digestible and entertaining in a while (if ever) so I am hyped yet bummed by some reviews!!

2 stars is just evil!!!!!

Jumping in again not having seen it, but the comments are making me think of 2.22 A Ghost Story. Shallow plot, but really fun night out. There is a place for everything!

Just enter the lottery (midday on Mondays). So far no one on here seems to have had any trouble snapping up a £25 ticket!

I’m seeing it tomorrow night thanks to that deal so been quickly skim reading this thread for the past few days to avoid spoilers, but sounds like I’m in for an enjoyable 90 minutes even if it’s not particularly taxing or ground-breaking.

Heaven forbid ATG lose out on the interval bar revenue. No interval, no problem - just flog the punters twice as many drinks pre-show!

Saw this tonight and enjoyed it even if it's a bit by the numbers in terms of the plot. Lily Collins was surprisingly good considering this is her stage debut, I would say this is a role that plays to her strengths and she makes Irene somewhat likeable as the play progresses. Alvaro Morte is very good as Manuel although I felt he does a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of the storytelling.

The plot was interesting if a little over the place and the twists are easy to work out although one thing that bugged me was I do wonder if Bess Wohl didn't know how to end the play because the ending we get is a tad unsatisfying.

The front row £25 seats are a bargain, I would say that A1 where I sat has a restriction because there's a table that blocks a few scenes but the trade off is that you're so close to the actors.

All in all, I'd say it's a 3.5 star show.

No, you need to sign up via the production website and then you’ll get an email on Monday morning with the link.