What did you think of the show?
This is the page where we would like you to tell us about your theatre experiences. Please do say if you enjoyed a show, or even if you didn’t – your feedback is important to us. It’s simple, we only have this one page for you to add your comments, so whichever show you have visited please tell us your thoughts below.
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theatreguys 
Hello to all, it’s truly a pleasant for me to go to see this site, it
includes important Information.
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The Guilty and Russell Tovey were given an excellent review by The Times – though not sure why only 4 stars were awarded. It was a superb performance and adaptation
Margaret
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The Guilty
It seems that all of your correspondents are in agreement that this was a gripping evening, dominated by the superb Russell Tovey, not only having to try to keep up with events rapidly getting out of hand, but the technology being flung at him from all directions. The timing of all these aspects was superb. However, unlike Garth, I am generally frustrated if I can’t properly hear what’s happening, and I missed a lot of what the voices through the phone lines were saying. One aspect of hearing difficulties not often commented on, is the fact that one sometimes hears correctly, but still continues to doubt it! I realised that I had understood more than I thought. I didn’t know about the film version. Surely all the events would have been shown on-screen and therefore fully comprehensible? Am not sure whether it’s a play one would want to see more than once but it was certainly enjoyable. More gutsy roles for Mr Tovey please.
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The Guilty
Wow! Yet another amazing production at the Donmar!
They never fail to impress and this one kept me spellbound throughout whilst anticipating a ‘twist’ at the end.
I wasn’t disappointed but I didn’t expect quite that outcome.
Russell Tovey was brilliant as were the voices of Sally Messham.
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The Guilty
What an outstanding play which had you gripped from the start. Excellent performances by both actors and a good insight into one part of policing . Thank you both for another wonderful evening at the Donmar .
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Guilty.
Always look forward to a Donmar production as it never fails. Once again we had another outstanding production. I could see why they didn’t want to impart too much information giving us another thrilling performance which gave us an insight into Policing.
Well done and thank you Fredo and Mike giving us all these wonderful experiences.
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The Guilty
Another wonderful evening at the Donmar. It may be a small theatre but it’s productions are hugely successful and entertaining, and The Guilty was no exception. Russell Tovey plays Joe, a dodgy cop, who has been demoted from patrol duties to answering the Emergency line, for reasons we don’t yet know. As his shifts continues, Joe becomes increasingly irritated by the callers who, to his mind, have no reason to bother him. The last call of his shift, however, will get his full attention. It’s an incredibly tense watch, but one I wouldn’t have missed.
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The Guilty
Seventy minutes after curtain-up and we were back in the street. In my dotage, I am happy with short plays – but was this one too short? What we saw on stage – bloke alone in an office – contrasted with a stream of hairy events whizzing along elsewhere in the ether. That was a clever conceit and as a dyed-in-the-wool technophobe, I was surprised how vividly the gruesome outside world could be conjured up by electronic communications. I decided that it didn’t much matter that I couldn’t follow how Joe could pick up so much precise information so quickly from the often-blurred sounds made by his callers.
Suppressing the thought that this was really a radio play on stilts, I was in awe of Russell Tovey’s detailed and nuanced performance. He bemused us with his shifting reactions, moments of macho dismissiveness, objective professionalism, self-pity, guilt and more, all flickering along rapidly.
The concluding reveal of the hitherto hidden voice-of-them-all was a nice theatrical surprise, at best adding a further layer of uncertainty to the preceding tangle of unseen events, at worst a misjudged shattering of our suspension of disbelief.
Another meticulous Donmar production – smart, in all the modern meanings of the word.
Garth
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“Guilty” if we had not taken the opportunity to experience the Donmar’s latest production . A mix of escalating events and conflicting decisions coming to an uncontrolled, shuddering conclusion. A unique performance with just two superb actors who, with immaculate timing, produced a stunning evening.
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I very much enjoyed the play and became inpatient to see ‘what would happen next’ as the visit progressed. The characters with their story were so well acted. I bought the script to see what might have been omitted or diluted but so far not from the second half!
Excellent seats as always. Thankyou.
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Springwood
Thank you Fredo and Mike for another interesting and enjoyable evening at the theatre. Like the closeness of the theatre. Will certainly look out for the film. Liked the different staging and scene changing. They all played their parts well.
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Springwood
Thank you Fredo and Mike for taking us to another excellent evening at the theatre. Really enjoyed being so close to the stage with an excellent cast. An interesting period of history recognising how the Royal Family over the decades has been instrumental in fostering and nurturing foreign relations. I will look out for the film version now.
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I loved Cyrano and thought it was a great production . My only minor gripe was that Cyrano was too attractive and Christian, although very handsome, was not sexy enough! We saw Driftwood in Stratford recently and Martins Imhagbe had that certain something that would have made you understand Roxanne’s obsession!
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Springwood
We really enjoyed the evening, the seats could not have been better.
The cast were all very good and the story was well told by credible characters with the king and queen in particular portraying the period perfectly, and the culture clash was stark.
There were lots humourous moments.
First class.
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Springwood
A thoroughly enjoyable production with some old faces on stage, although I didn’t spot them immediately! It really
helps to buy a programme to realise who’s who, as well as supporting the theatre!
A good history lesson for me as well. I only had a vague knowledge as to how America entered the war.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be there.
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Springwood
A very enjoyable and, in parts, amusing play. The actors playing FDR and the King particularly good. The assistant producer having to stand in did very well and her need to carry the script did not detract from the play at all.
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Springwood/Cyrano
I did enjoy Springwood, I thought Robert Lindsay and Jemma Redgrave were exceptional.
However, I thought the character of Cameron, was very strange. I would have thought it would have been a perfect part for humour and parody, but I felt it was a very wooden performance, and added nothing to the action.
My other feeling was that it was a little stilted, that might have been intended.
Overall, I enjoyed it very much.
Cyrano de Bergerac was a delight, joyful. I did agree with one comment, that his nose didn’t seem excessively large. Feel very lucky to have seen this performance.
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SPRINGWOOD
A wonderful night at the theatre with my friend Lucy. We loved the production. It was brilliantly performed, fascinating and we got to see a couple of familiar faces on stage. Absolutely brilliant.
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Springwood
Debatably, this play has a contemporary relevance in attempting to illustrate an earlier moment in the patchy relationship between the UK and the USA over the centuries. For all its isolationist instincts (on both sides of the American political divide), the US does emerge from its shell (only too often, some would say) to sort the world out. The royal visit in 1939 was part of an extended effort by the UK to raise the Roosevelt Administration’s awareness of the scope and reality of the growing Nazi threat. Pearl Harbour a couple of years later was more persuasive, but as the play made clear, at least the President, even before war actually broke out, was ready to look after “the neighbours” even if they were 5,000 miles away.
The king had to get his central mission across amidst a range of tensions, conflicts, cultural disjunctions, personal physical and psychological limitations, historical baggage and probably more. The storyline couldn’t leave them alone and I grew weary of the frequent reappearances of the hot-dog challenge.
It’s clear that Roosevelt’s Top Cottage was not a version of Mar-a-Lago (though his main house at Springwood had some 35 rooms). A distinctly sparse production was accordingly appropriate. Even so, the sequence of micro-scenes, obsessive furniture-shifting and the semi-in-the-round format against a background of total darkness made for an awkward atmosphere. No doubt, the real occasion itself was indeed awkward – bonhomie was not the natural mode of the Windsors and for them the interestingly unorthodox Presidential domestic set-up took them by surprise.
Although the drama, such as it was, moved to a point of mutual understanding, symbolised by a climactic off-stage “entertainment,” I didn’t feel that we’d really got far into the principals’ characters. That’s not to gainsay the acting. Robert Lindsey’s leathery President was worldly-wise and indulgent – and seemingly vulnerable. The redoubtable Eleanor (Jemma Redgrave) came over pleasingly loud and clear. The royals seemed less credible and less rounded – but maybe that’s all there ever was, at least for an American playwright. As convincing as anyone among the smaller roles, Bryony Miller said quite a lot without speaking.
With its off-beat subject matter, the play is a semi-interesting curiosity, but the production – at least at this early stage in the run – lacked intensity and energy. Maybe it will pick up in due course.
Garth
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SPRINGWOOD
Just walking home from a wonderful night at the theatre with my good friend Lucy. We absolutely loved the production. It was funny, brilliantly performed, fascinating and we got to see a couple of familiar faces on the stage. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you very much for the tickets. I’m so glad we made it. X
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