A Chorus of Disapproval review, Harold Pinter Theatre

It's sometimes difficult to correlate the admiring quotes on billboards outside a theatre, with the production within. At those times, one has to remember that the critics sit in premium seats, which allow them to see every flicker and hear every sigh. For that privilege, some theatres hike the prices, charging the average punter up to £95. Daylight robbery. So it was that the audience at the front of the Harold Pinter stalls laughed more at Trevor Nunn's revival of Alan Ayckbourn's, A Chorus of Disapproval, than those of us at the back who sat largely silent except for the rustle of the occasional sweet bag and mutterings about sound levels.

Beggar's belief

In Row Q, the levels were terrible; but as Rob Brydon's booming Welsh baritone dominates the entire proceedings, perhaps it didn't matter. The story follows an am-dram troupe staging The Beggar's Opera. Behind the scenes they're haggling over land. When a new boy with the right contacts and a sweet smile joins the group, the women start to bed him while the men seek to bribe him.

The visuals were interesting. The balcony hangs so low that the top half of the stage is lost to view. The audience becomes the filling in a between-floors masonry sandwich, watching proceedings in cinemascope. As for the play, no, it did not live up to the billboard exhortations, which may have been judiciously extracted.  One was aware of cracking lines and hopeful scenes disappearing in an unbalanced production that is dated, hammily directed, overstuffed with weak TV actors who don't know how to project, and lacking warmth.

In conclusion: This is a play of two halves - one at the front and one at the back. It's a common problem in large theatres, and if the play were exceptional or even very good, it wouldn't matter. In this instance, it did.

References
A Chorus of Disapproval, tickets
Charles Spencer review in The Daily Telegraph