Les Parents Terribles, Trafalgar Studios

Cocteau's opium-fuelled farce is given full throttle by Frances Barber and co

by Veronica LeeMonday, 29 November 2010

Smotherly love: Frances Barber and Tom Byam ShawAlastair Muir

This is the final production in the Donmar Warehouse’s 12-week season at Trafalgar Studios (which showcases the work of its resident assistant directors) and is a revival of Jeremy Sams’s translation of Jean Cocteau’s play - first seen in Sean Mathias’s acclaimed production at the National Theatre in 1994, with a cast that included Jude Law, Alan Howard and Sheila Gish.

There’s an awful lot of emoting occurring here (Barber certainly gives it full choke) and never has a chaise longue seen so much action

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