We’ve paid £40 each for tickets to see Breath of Life at the Haymarket Theatre Royal this evening. The Haymarket is one of my favourite theatres in London, and has been ever since I saw Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia there. But how can one look forward, other than with trepidation, to seeing Maggie Smith and Judi Dench on stage together after such caustic reviews?

The prospect of two great actresses – Maggie Smith and Judi Dench – raising each other’s game in the same play was one to drool over. How disappointing for them that David Hare provides them with so little to work with… As Dench has little to do as Frances but look glum, it’s sometimes hard to tell who is more unhappy, the actress or her character.
Jane Edwardes, Time Out no.1679 23.10.02

And that wasn’t the only one. Front Row on Radio 4 was dismissive of the change in style and quality of David Hare’s latest effort.

I know one shouldn’t take too much notice of reviews, but it’s hard to face the evening with equanimity when I’d been looking forward to it for so long.

Posted by nathan at October 25, 2002 08:42 AM

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