In case you are new here, the start of reviews is where I tell you what the show was about. I can’t do that with The Philanthropist, because fuck all happened.
Starring an exciting cast of comedic talent like Simon Bird, Charlotte Ritchie, Matt Berry & Tom Rosenthal, this is sure to be a hit with the cast alone. But as more & more reviews came out, I saw right across the board reviews from 1 star all the way to 4 stars. After finding cheap tickets, my friend Bliss & I decided to give it a shot and decide for ourselves what we thought of it. And both of us ended up hating it.
On top of having no plot, Christopher Hampton’s play tries to be funny but is incredibly outdated. It has a non-existent structure and drags on and on for no reason at all. The women characters are used as stereotypical plot devices. I will say, Charlotte Ritchie did try her best but she is way too good of an actress to be doing shit plays like this. Simon Bird leads as Phillip and, as much as I like him as an actor, this play is just all wrong for him. At times, he looks really uncomfortable. The other actors in the show are mediocre, at best, except for Lily Cole who is basically used as a pair of legs with the acting skills of a wet fish. And this is on top of her poorly written character. Hey, Christopher Hampton, it’s perfectly okay if a woman wants to sleep with loads of people. You really don’t need to use the “they said my uncle raped me when I was 12 and that’s why I can’t stop having sex” bullshit to add to the character.
I see this play has been hyped up due to the previous, fantastic productions the Trafalgar Studios has produced as well as it’s cast. But, take it from me, stay away from this boring shit show. If you want to see an actual comedy starring people off the tele, then go see The Miser at the Garrick Theatre instead.
Until next time,
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Categories: theatre
Hayley Sprout 