Madwomen of the West - Riverside Studios

Watching this, I felt like an alien from another galaxy trying to make sense of an episode of "Loose Women."

The reason to see this is to see the 4 actors: you've got the original Mrs. Maisel (Joel's mother in the TV show), you've got a main cast member of "Taxi," you've got an actress who worked with Terence Malick and you've got the director of Mean Girls 2, etc, etc.

But I would have preferred a good interviewer talking to each person for twenty minutes, and then all of them together for another twenty minutes, as I'm sure it would have been infinitely more revealing and entertaining.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Without judging any of the following activities, 4 characters talking about such things in a plotless play just didn't resonate with me: I do drink diet coke but only to make room for an eclair, not to "sugar cleanse;" I don't save money for therapy sessions; I don't organise "sex days" that involve bubble baths; I don't know what "slow food" is; I don't ponder the "granularity of life."

At one point, they start talking about the California section of a newspaper, and then apologised that a London audience may not be interested. You got that right.

At one point, they start mourning Hillary Clinton, at which point I'm like, Kamala Harris is where it's at, please!

At yet another point, they start singing "Love is all around" but I bitterly realised it's NOT the Wet Wet Wet cover we all know from "Love Actually," but rather a reference to the Mary Tyler Moore show which I've never seen.

Anyhow, Caroline Aaron's caustic Marilyn delivers lines humorously, but unfortunately has to hate on her husband for "puttering around," which just didn't work for me as a well-worked comic skit.

It is funny how ageless Marilu Henner is (the show explicitly compares her to the others) . She'll still be around in a hundred years looking impossibly fabulous. Maybe it's the slow food!

As by far the most relatable character (she's modest, reasonable and incredibly personable breaking the fourth wall), Melanie Mayron is terrifically likeable but then she has to clumsily address the trans debate, without much needed context or depth.

Anyhow, I was perplexed by the play, which is a conversation between fictional people about concerns that either seem fictional or should be fictional.

I was glad to see these wonderful performers in London, but as I said, would just have preferred them to do an interview.

2 and a half stars for visiting us in the Andromeda galaxy (aka Britain).

PS: The Riverside deserve a prize for their advertising awning quoting the New York Times: "Will you laugh anyway? I did." I checked the NYT review. The full quote reads: "Will you laugh anyway? I did, three times." I laughed three times at that alone.

Just out of this. For some reason they have decided to add an interval, so now it is almost 2 hours (it is advertised as 90 minutes, no interval).

It feels a bit unfinished but it had a run in the US so not sure if they are still tinkering with it. The break of the 4th wall does not make much sense to start with but then they make some good use of it later in the play.

The four actresses are good and there is chemistry amongst them. Some funny lines and not terrible but I wouldn't rush to see it unless you have an interest in these particular players.

I should have recorded the pair of women by my side. They were talking about the things they do daily and about other women they knew. It was like listening to The ladies who lunch, London version XXI century.