Review Roundup: PLAYHOUSE CREATURES at Orange Tree Theatre

Playhouse Creatures is now open at the Orange Tree. This revival of April De Angelis’ Playhouse Creatures directed by Michael Oakley features a stellar cast of Anna Chancellor (Mrs Betterton),  Zoe Brough (Nell Gwyn), Doña Croll (Doll Common), Katherine Kingsley (Mrs Marshall) and Nicole Sawyerr (Mrs Farley). 
 
Playhouse Creatures  runs until 12 April before touring to Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford from 22 – 26 April and Theatre Royal Bath from 28 April – 3 May.
 
It’s the swinging (16)60s, and ‘the merry monarch’ Charles II is on the throne. After violent civil war, England's theatres have finally reopened and, for the first time, women are allowed to perform in public.
 
In the West End, grande dame Mrs Betterton (Chancellor) rules the roost. But there’s a new face in town: an orange-seller with dreams of stardom.
 
From dressing-room camaraderie to bitter rivalry, April De Angelis’ gloriously exuberant, bawdily funny and deeply poignant play celebrates five women grabbing this newfound freedom and making their way in an unfamiliar world. But at what price? See what the critics are saying...

Arifa Akbar, The Guardian:  The stories are always compelling but only slight, and the characterisation is broad-brush. But the actors elevate it, bringing warm, lively comedy. There is a limber, light touch to Fotini Dimou’s stage design too, and it works well in this space, with candle-light lowering or rising to signify when the women are on or off stage, and a sense of glitter and glamour conjured through costumes and confetti. This is a play that exudes a love of the trade, from sawdust to the stars, as well as serving as a reminder of a turning point in theatre history, when these women were regarded simultaneously as trailblazers, renegades and oddities akin to dancing bears.

Nick Curtis, London Evening Standard: Playhouse Creatures reminded me oddly of the current stage adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s The Years. Both feature all-female casts of five, both track women through pivotal historic periods and different stages of life, and both are staged with flair (The Years by a woman, Playhouse Creatures by a man). Neither of them could have existed without the breakthrough made by Nell, Mrs B et al.

Marina Lan, Theatre Weekly: Playhouse Creatures doesn’t give the audience an easy way out, but it is mostly because women’s lives are intense in themselves: being objectified, unintended pregnancy, forced abortion, financial insecurity… These elements are present, almost like a routine. It is easy to answer challenging themes with laughter and occasional moments of sincerity.