Thursday 7 January 2016

Review: Harlequinade/All On Her Own

Hey readers!
It's time for my review of Harlequinade/All On Her Own.
I've been wanting to see this show for a long time due to wanting to see Kenneth Branagh. I loved Harlequinade, however I wasn't the biggest fan of All On Her Own. The show featured two different plays by Terrence Rattigan, a comedy (Harlequinade) and a drama (All On Her Own). The storyline of Harlequinade is: 'A classical theatre company attempts to produce The Winter’s Tale and Romeo and Juliet, while the intrigues and dalliances of the company members are accidently revealed with increasingly chaotic and hysterical consequences.' and the storyline of All On Her Own is: 'A woman with a secret, alone at midnight in London has a burden to share that is at times both heart-breaking and sinister. ' Harlequinade was hilarious and had me laughing throughout. It had a very clever storyline. The cast were really good and all worked well together. Cast members who stood out for me were Kenneth Branagh as Arthur Gosport, Miranda Raison as Edna Selby, Tom Bateman as Jack Wakefield, Hadley Fraser as the First Halberdier, Jessie Buckley as Muriel Palmer, Jack Colgrave Hirst as Tom Palmer, John Shrapnel as George Chudleigh and Vera Chock as Miss. Fishlock. The set, lighting and costumes were all great. I'd never seen a Terrence Rattigan play before so I am glad I finally managed to. I look forward to the rest of the plays put on by the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company! As I said earlier though, I did not like All On Her Own. I wasn't keen on Zoë Wanamaker in Harlequinade or All On Her Own and personally I would have cast Judi Dench. I felt Zoë didn't put much emotion into the role. If I were the director I would have cut out All On Her Own and added on a little bit to Harlequinade.

The featured star of Harlequinade/All On Her own is, drum roll please... TOM BATEMAN!


Tom is an incredible actor and I hope he receives an Oliver nomination for his role in this production. I am surprised that they have not asked him to appear in the next Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company production because he is amazing!

Now for my final verdict on Harlequinade/All On Her Own. I give Harlequinade/All On Her Own... 


All On Her Own would've only been 3 stars, but I felt Harlequinade was so funny that the whole show deserved a better rating.

Think it should have got a higher rating? Think it should have got a lower rating? If so comment below.

Join me next time when I will be reviewing A Christmas Carol.

Thanks for reading!

-The Reviewer

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