Review: Ink

Hey readers!
It's time for my review of Ink.
On the Wednesday I went into London to see Labour of Love, I had not planned to see Ink. However, I happened to walk past the Duke of York's Theatre, where Ink was playing, where I then found out that Ink was doing £15 day seats, so I decided to see Ink as well. Labour of Love and Ink happen to both be written by James Graham, so I ended up seeing a James Graham double bill!

Ink is set in 1969 when Rupert Murdoch was far from the billionaire media mogul he is today. He bought The Sun¸ which at the time was a failing broadsheet newspaper, and had a vision to transform it into the publication as we know it today. He enlists Larry Lamb as the paper’s editor, and together they work on making a paper for the masses. The play tracks the history of the paper’s first year as they aim to overtake the Daily Mirror as the best-selling newspaper in the world. It was absolutely fascinating, and leaving the theatre I truly felt I had learnt so much. Ink gives an incredible insight into journalism and what it takes to work in that industry. Playwright James Graham does a brilliant job of building tension throughout the play and keeping the audience on the edge of their seats, and as a result of this, there is never a dull moment in Ink.

Rupert Goold's direction is excellent and absolutely flawless. The staging that features in Ink seems to be very special and adds to make the show even more amazing than it already is. I would even go as far to say Ink is one of the best directed shows I have ever seen. There are many wonderful things about this production, but I believe it's the direction that truly makes this production as marvellous as it is.

Ink has an extraordinary cast, filled with some of the most talented actors in the West End at this moment in time. In the role of Larry Lamb, Richard Coyle gives an outstanding performance. Richard gives an intriguing performance that will have the audience endlessly thinking about Larry Lamb's motivations and thoughts. Richard Coyle has a large command of the stage at all times, which is due to his big presence on stage. Alongside Richard Coyle was Bertie Carvel as Ruper Murdoch. Bertie Carvel really inhabited the role of Murdoch, always showing the needed physicality and characterisation to play the part. Carvel's portrayal of Murdoch was very life like and was a brilliant all-round performance. The whole cast of Ink are absolutely phenomenal and there are some truly fascinating performances in this production.

The set design, created by Bunny Christie, captures the 1960's newspaper offices on Fleet Street perfectly. It was extremely life-like, which greatly helped to transport the audience to the world of the characters. All of the costumes were very impressive, and like the set, their realistic nature helps to transport the audience. The lighting design of Ink was the best I have seen in quite a while; it was perfection. Lighting design can sometimes have a difficulty of being a stand out feature of a show, but it was more than noticeable in Ink.

Ink was phenomenal in every single way. Phenomenal writing, phenomenal direction, phenomenal cast and phenomenal designs. Ink is a truly spectacular show and is the best play I have seen in almost a year!

The featured star of Ink is, drum roll please... RICHARD COYLE!

All of the actors in Ink are remarkable, but in my opinion, it was Richard Coyle that gave the stand-out performance. I cannot find a single fault with Richard's performance; it was truly mesmerising. He was sensational from beginning to end!

Now for my final verdict on Ink. I give Ink...

Ink is the first play I have given 5 stars to since January! In my eyes, what made Ink better than other plays was that there was not a single dull moment. A lot of plays begin to drag in certain places, but Ink was exciting throughout the whole performance. I could have watched it for hours!

Agree with my rating? Think it should have got a lower rating? If so comment below.

Thanks for reading!

-The Reviewer