The Libertine

An amusing but ultimately rather bland play. A story that has been told time and time again, just placed in a different part of history. Dominic Cooper does a decent job and I was particularly fond of the actor playing Alcock. However a story like this needs magnetic performances of which it was lacking. The actress playing the mistress in particular wasn't great. Nice costumes.

2.5*

Saw this last night and oh dear…

Very disappointing. The set looks lovely, but that's about it. The music would be lovely were it not played solely on a keyboard. Keyboard "strings" and "brass" sound…well, like they're being played on a keyboard. Mark Hadfield puts in a fine performance, as does Jasper Britton. But Dominic Cooper, despite looking the way he does, seems woefully miscast. And maybe knows it?…

His opening speech is great fun, but right then he did nothing with it, apart from looking at a few people on the front row with a raised eyebrow. He gives the part almost no energy. There is no lust, no joy, no passion, no danger at all. Watch him jump onto a table in a moment of supposed passion…taking extreme care to do so… The few "moments" in the play that are moving or dramatic (and strangely there are very few in Stephen Jeffrey's piece, it almost fights against being dramatic…odd) go for nothing because we do not care about him.

This is part to do with the writing, of course, but Cooper does nothing to help himself.

The women fair a bit better. Although Johnson has done the unforgivable once again, and cast his daughter (the second time in a year). The fate of one of the male characters is met with silence and, again, a lack of empathy, because we simply have not got to know that person, or any of them, in more than a two dimensional way.

The role of Rochester though does have more meat to it. And Dominic Cooper is a fine actor, but not a great one. To be great in this part he would have had to have been directed better by Terry Johnson, and it looks like Terry has failed in this job. One wonders what his close friend Nick Hytner would have managed to get out of him if he had directed it?

At the end of the play Cooper turns to each of the characters and asks, "Do you like me now?", and, as we cringed at what was coming, the inevitable happened, and he turned out front to us and ask us the same question.

I fear the reviewers are going to have a field day with that moment alone, especially if an audience member shouts out.

We don't like you now because we were never allowed to like you in this production, because of the poor writing, but ultimately the poor choice of lead.

He'll run back to TV once the reviews come out and if the run completes its duration, and won't return to the stage for a long time it looks like.

Libby Purves (Theatrecat) 4*

But well-known blogger says he can't remember when he was last so bored at the theatre.

Is it this one, showgirl?

oughttobeclowns.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/not-review-libertine-theatre-royal.html?m=1

I have to say I agree.

3* in The Stage too, which makes a point of saying how Cooper's charm is wearing off.

Yeah, I have to agree.

I saw this with Anniek and whist I was please to see Dominic Cooper on stage, this just didn't work for me.

I'd have to admit, at one point my mind stared drifting.

It's not all bad. If fact, there's lots to like about it. The costumes, the its, etc.  There's a particularly effective ever-changing backdrop in a large frame behind the actors but I just didn't care about these people.

There was no depth to these people. Without giving any spoilers, I didn't get how Cooper's character gets to where he ends up.

Some people left in intermission.

Mark Shelton and his husband were there.

That complete marries with my experience. Saw it early on in Bath (when Cooper was still calling for his lines) and found it entertaining enough for £20 but it really is lacking in spark and finesse. The dildo song and the monkey shouldn't be the standout highlights.

Susannah nails it.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/oct/02/the-libertine-dominic-cooper-observer-review

Interesting review - we're going to see this tonight.

We were there too, Kevin. Well, I say we were there, but my companion slept through whole swathes of it, so present in body if not spirit.

It looked very handsome indeed and I liked the early coffee house scene when they were finding the good bits and bad bits in the latest work by Dryden and the opening rehearsal scenes of the second act. But I thought the direction and some of the acting were actually poor. Ophelia Lovibond seemed entirely miscast as Mrs Berry, at times her stage presence was more a stage absence - which surely has to be a problem when playing someone who is meant to become a great actress and Alice Bailey Johnson (the director's daughter, I believe - I shouldn't mention it, but it is fun to at least pretend acting is a meritocracy, isn't it?) was very dull as Rochester's wife. This is going to seem a silly example, but she had what should have been an impassioned speech to the audience about the problems of being married to Rochester. She delivered this like a head girl addressing an assembly. At the end, she turned and flatly trudged off stage - no character, no style, nothing. It's the sort of thing that, were it, say, an A level drama exam, the student would be awarded a D. There was an ensemble member in the Dildo song who was really funny and charming - moved beautifully, had the right attitude - I couldn't help but think she might have been better in one of the larger roles.

There was also some dull/awkward staging - I'm not sure Johnson actually has a great eye for stage pictures or movement. At one point, a character is lying on stage and some watchmen gather around him in what, I think, was meant to be a comic manner, but just looked amateurish, like something out of 'The Art of Coarse Acting.' I saw the Stafford-Clark production of this at the Royal Court and remember thinking it flawed then, but also loving the way he combined the Restoration veneer to this gritty, nastiness.

Cooper needed more light and shade and excitement - Rochester was the ultimate irresistible bad boy. I can't help but wonder if, with better direction, he could have got it.

Still for the production values (set/costumes/lighting), some decent supporting performances (the coffee house group) and a collector's item of a script, this just shades into 3 stars.

Was at the afternoon matinee today.

I had a few mixed feelings going in after mixed reviews.

The first act is a little overlong but act 2 was far sharper and tighter.

Some of the performances felt flat in places but this is Dominic's show and he delivers. You can't help but find this character endearing throughout (I like that ruse of a prologue) and a tear or two rolled down my cheek at the end.

Lovely set, overall a nice matinee 3/5

Saw this yesterday and enjoyed it but with reservations : Domonic Cooper and Ophelia Lovibond were excellent, the set desigb was lovely but I could have dome with less of Rochester's pals,

Overall enjoyable and glad I saw it.