tue 19/03/2024

When We Are Married, Garrick Theatre | reviews, news & interviews

When We Are Married, Garrick Theatre

When We Are Married, Garrick Theatre

Priestley comedy is more sour than sweet in latest West End landing

He Leica the liquor: Roy Hudd plays a bibulous photographer in J B Priestley revivalAlastair Muir

Those who want a taste of the way the West End used to be - that's to say, bustling star vehicles where the furniture isn't the only amply upholstered aspect of the evening - will relish When We Are Married, the 1938 J B Priestley comedy that tends to hove into view every 10 or 15 years, or thereabouts. But I wonder whether theatrical pleasure-seekers will be prepared for the tetchiness and rancour that have come to the fore of this once time-honoured comic warhorse. Indeed, take away the rather hurriedly upbeat finish and you could be mistaken for thinking that Strindberg had suddenly relocated to Yorkshire.

Those who want a taste of the way the West End used to be - that's to say, bustling star vehicles where the furniture isn't the only amply upholstered aspect of the evening - will relish When We Are Married, the 1938 J B Priestley comedy that tends to hove into view every 10 or 15 years, or thereabouts. But I wonder whether theatrical pleasure-seekers will be prepared for the tetchiness and rancour that have come to the fore of this once time-honoured comic warhorse. Indeed, take away the rather hurriedly upbeat finish and you could be mistaken for thinking that Strindberg had suddenly relocated to Yorkshire.

Priestley's play takes a scalpel to posturing, all the while allowing a stage full of stalwarts their moments to shine

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Comments

A rather odd picture caption given that the Leica camera was not produced when When We Are Married was written.

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