That most Jewish of writers, Clifford Odets, wrote his backstage drama in 1950. There can be few characters more perfectly primed for redemption than Odets’s hero, middle-aged, alcoholic actor Frank Elgin, played by Martin Shaw. Jenny Seagrove is on solid form as his world-weary wife. But overshadowing the stars is Mark Letheren as the tough director who gives Frank one more chance. Odets reveals the grind that goes into producing plays, a theme director Rufus Norris’s capitalises on in the clever scene changes conducted by the cast. If ever there was a theatre lover’s play, this is it.
(www.apollo-theatre.co.uk)
Apollo Theatre