Children's Children
Matthew Dunster
Children's Children
Michael and Gordon have been best friends since acting college. Now, 20 years later, Michael is Mr Saturday Night TV but failing actor Gordon is struggling with enormous debts. Meanwhile Gordon’s daughter Effie couldn't care less about her Dad's problems – she is far more interested in the film that her cool boyfriend is making and setting up an ecologically sound clothing label. When Gordon asks Michael to lend him a large sum of money it sets in motion a series of events that reveal irreparable cracks in the characters’ relationships.
3.2 out of 5 based on 4 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Location |
London |
| Venue |
Almeida |
| Director |
Jeremy Herrin |
| Cast |
Beth Cordingly, Darrell D'Silva, Trevor Fox, John MacMillan, Sally Rogers Emily Berrington |
| From |
May 2012 |
| Until |
June 2012 |
| Box Office |
0207359 4404 |
| |
Michael and Gordon have been best friends since acting college. Now, 20 years later, Michael is Mr Saturday Night TV but failing actor Gordon is struggling with enormous debts. Meanwhile Gordon’s daughter Effie couldn't care less about her Dad's problems – she is far more interested in the film that her cool boyfriend is making and setting up an ecologically sound clothing label. When Gordon asks Michael to lend him a large sum of money it sets in motion a series of events that reveal irreparable cracks in the characters’ relationships.
Reviews
The Times
Dominic Maxwell
“Sod it, if a certain messiness in construction is what enables Dunster to give us so much of the messiness of human life, then so be it. Children’s Children has electrifying moments, such as when Gordon debases himself in front of his oldest friend, or when Michael unleashes years of frustration to Effie. It has clunky moments, such as when Castro comes on to Louisa, Michael’s glamorous younger wife, with a concision that he doesn’t show when talking about oil companies. But this lengthy play also has wit, intelligence and a rare sense of scope. It’s excitingly alive. Just when you think you know where it’s going, it goes somewhere else: kills someone off, jumps two years ahead, lets a quiet character shout, dares to be a bit of a yarn.”
27/05/2012
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The Guardian
Michael Billington
“I suspect the play is really an indictment of both generations: the self-seeking individualism of Thatcher's children and their ineffectual offspring, who talk a good ethical game while lacking the capacity for action. While I applaud the intention, Dunster handles it clumsily. At one point, the action stops dead while Castro offers a detailed account of environmental disasters that is also meant as a sexual come-on; as an actor-director, Dunster must be aware how Chekhov handled a similar situation in Uncle Vanya with rather more finesse.”
25/05/2012
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The Independent on Sunday
Kate Bassett
“The long speeches about moral choices aren't convincingly integrated and the multiplying nasty twists towards the end feel forced. Nonetheless, Fox's quiet schadenfreude is chilling, the eruptions of fury are savage, and D'Silva is outstanding, seeming to crumple and age before your eyes.”
27/05/2012
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The Stage
Jeremy Austin
“There’s a lot of emotion. Dunster has written the emotion very well. The actors act it very well. But we know where this is going to go, how it is going to end up, and there is very little else going on below the surface.”
25/05/2012
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