The Unfriend - Chichester / Criterion / Wyndham’s

Thanks Rory

Watched this from row H in the stalls last night... had mixed feelings... while I enjoyed the premise and acting, I found the script rather weak and dragged in places. As others have said it feels like an extended 1970s sitcom- which isn't really my thing. But it clearly hit the mark with a sub set of the audience who found it hilarious. I found the second act toilet scene beyond tedious and really unfunny. But a perfectly enjoyable way to spend two hours, and a great performances by all three leads. 

ps. I really do feel its dangerous territory refusing to see actors because of opinions they have expressed on social media regarding current affairs and social issues. Whether one agrees with her or not, Frances is simply expressing views held by a significant proportion of the British population and she, like anyone else in Britain is allowed to express such opinions as we, thankfully, have freedom of speech. There is no need to agree with her utterances on social media in order to see her perform. 

I am absolutely at a loss to understand why this received some four-star reviews and I can only assume the reviewers on glue. The two-star reviews which Abbington (unwisely and stupidly) railed against on Twitter (can't stand the heat love, get outta the kitchen) were pretty accurate. It's an intriguing premise for a dark comedy that has a lot of potential that Moffatt fails to explore veering it towards the toilet farce of Act II. The teenagers change personalities almost overnight and despite being on a cruise for four weeks the three lead players are as pale as pasteurised milk at the end of it. And who, in the right mind would even give their email to Elsa when you can't stand her? You wouldn't, you'd "accidentally" add a full stop where there shouldn't be one.

I wanted to like this, I really did. I stuck it out because I did laugh a few times and smiled a bit; there were a few real zinger lines and one or two funny scenes. At last night's performance I'd sat half the audience laughed a lot and have the audience were like me. Shearsmith is OK but in act two starts morphing into a League of Gentlemen character (replete with silly voice). Abbington has a lesser role and is unable to do anything with it (sorry, but I do not understand her appeal, I find her a very poor actress). Barber's role needs to be larger than life but she sometimes crosses the line into cariacture. The best performance is Michael Simkins as The Neighbour - pitch-perfect, believable and effortlessly funny (whereas half the time Shearsmith has to make a lot of effort to get the laughs). It has the advantage of being just two hours long with interval but I'm afraid it felt longer.

Exactly. Plenty of shows do this.

For reference, there are a LOT of seats available for this over the next few weeks so I think this has probably been exaggerated slightly

I liked this a lot. It's just a feel good, old school comedy with a lovely set and a great cast who work really well together and who seemed to be having a lot of fun. The audience loved it! Who knows whether it will move theatres or come back at some point but I was glad to have seen it. Steven Moffat was there on Thursday afternoon and it must be very gratifying for him hearing the gales of laughter his play is getting.

Was excited to see this but I just thought this was ok. Not sure why, but I didn't really connect with the show. The audience around me was laughing a lot, but I only joined them about 50% of the time. Disappointed.

I get why people revisit threads to defend shows they love -- I do that myself -- but it seems strange to me that some people repost to reinforce their dislike. (The Cinderella thread was particularly prone to it.) Rather than fair criticism, it starts to feel like deliberate attempts to sabotage.

Fair points!

Wyndhams Theatre .. with Lee Mack.

Hmmmm.....if that is true, that can drastically change the overall feel of the show. I might have to go see it again