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"The great strength of Michael Cabot's fine production is the realisation that the two brothers are equally incapable of going anywhere. They too are stuck in their impossible, albeit small, dreams. Brain damaged Aston is never going to build his shed, buy any of the interesting things he sees on his walks or indeed finish mending the plug he's always fiddling with. Nicholas Gasson, returning to the role of Davies in this revival of London Classic Theatre's 2004 production, raises the querulous inertia to a pitch of wheedling pleading that is truly unnerving. Richard Stemp, also returning to his role in the earlier tour, gives Aston's voice a quiet, strangulated monotone which invests his utterances with a truly enigmatic strength. He only varies it in the great speech when he reveals his hospital treatment, which is delivered with extraordinary power."
Theatre in Wales on The Caretaker

"A mix of the melodramatic and the macabre, the play grips you not particularly with shock at what is enfolding but a sense of an absorbing slowly paced tragedy in amongst the uncomfortable laughs. As they come out for their final bow, I had forgotten there were just four parts, and four players, in this beautifully realised production. Over two hours bursting with emotion; equal parts hope and despair and just the four on the stage at the end. They weren’t exactly beaming. Selwyn and Dance must have been exhausted. But it wasn’t difficult to detect a certain satisfaction at doing justice to a superb play."
WhatsOnStage on The Beauty Queen of Leenane

"Humble Boy won numerous awards in the early part of the decade and this revival should enjoy great success, as this extremely talented cast of six makes it a show not to be missed. Within a beautifully designed floral garden they bring forth the joys and sorrows that this riveting play conjures up. The moment Peter Cadden, as George Pye, walks on stage this production really takes off and his character’s vocabulary and antics ensures the audience is not disappointed. It’s a gem of a performance and particularly enjoyed by those who now own bus passes. John Dorney as Felix Humble, gives a masterful performance in a very complex role and creates all sorts of emotions. Pauline Whitaker as Flora Humble, is something of the mother from hell and gives a very accomplished performance. Carole Dance is a joy as the scatty and sometimes irritating Mercy Lott. In a feast of quality acting, both Catherine Harvey (Rosie Pye) and Martin Wimbush (Jim the Gardener) make their own mark in diverse roles."
The Stage on Humble Boy

"Michael Cabot's new 30th anniversary production misses nothing... The acting has a real depth and integrity that pays rich dividends, with Pauline Whitaker in painfully fine form as the gently-spoken middle-class neighbour Sue, Benjamin Warren and Helen Johns acting up a slowly-brewing storm as the ill-matched young couple next door, and Jennings revealing the full, lethal depths of Beverly's boredom and desperation, sexual and otherwise."
The Scotsman on Abigail's Party

"Set in a middle-class English living room, a husband and wife await the promised return of their daughter, who mysteriously left home aged 16, seven years previously. Playing the married couple, and on stage for the entire duration, Jonathan Coote and Pauline Whitaker are utterly mesmeric. The script is deliciously ambiguous with unfinished sentences, and emotions are sometimes raw with loss, longing, and anger. When their visitor - surprisingly, not their expected daughter - arrives at nightfall, family love, loyalty, and secrets are painfully exposed and dissected."
Southern Daily Echo on Nightfall

"London Classic Theatre is a consistently impressive touring company, usually producing sharp productions of modern classics. Here, however, they’ve gone back to 1723 with a sumptuous production of a Marivaux comedy of manners. The first thing that hits the eye is Geraldine Bunzl’s elegant set, artfully designed to fool the eye into seeing it as more solid than it is. The costumes, too, are ravishing. As for the plot, well it’s a sort of fairy tale, a prince disguised as a soldier falling for a peasant girl, combined with commedia dell’arte (one of the characters is even called Harlequin). It’s full of talk, of schemes, of attitudes and of love. It must be played in a mannered style and it could fall very flat indeed. Happily there’s no chance of that with Michael Cabot’s excellent direction of his fine cast. It took me a little while to adjust to its artificiality, but once adjusted, the clear speaking, expert comic playing and perfectly judged design make an 18th Century French play seem fresh and newly-minted in this elegantly enjoyable production."
OnStage Scotland on The Double Inconstancy

"Three people are in a room, one a former friend visiting a married couple in a country house by the sea. There’s an ever-shifting balance of subtle domination with a hint of menace. It’s Pinter territory, so take what you wish from this intriguing staging by Michael Cabot in its elegant setting designed by Geraldine Bunzl. The conversational sparring, feinting and countering is nicely paced and rhythmic, civilised and well-mannered, stillness skillfully masking tensions of sexual chemistry."
The Stage on Old Times

"This enchanting, life-affirming, moving and often very funny production is an absolute treat."
The Stage on Love in the Title

"London Classic Theatre have built a fine reputation for exciting and provocative touring theatre. Michael Cabot’s excellent production can only add to that...an intense, claustrophobic, utterly absorbing production."

The Stage on Frozen

"Closer than a close-up, fascinating, repellent - remarkable theatre, impeccably presented."
Oxford Times on Closer

"London Classic Theatre is now a major player on the middle-scale touring circuit if its last production of Molly Sweeney and this one are to go by...the voice of Orton sounds loud and clear in this excellent, very black and very funny production."
The Stage on Entertaining Mr Sloane

"Michael Cabot's powerful and absorbing production...this is world class theatre."
Chelmsford Weekly News on Molly Sweeney

"An excellent production, tastefully directed by Michael Cabot, which will not only tour successfully but could also be worth a run in the right West End theatre."
The Stage on The Killing of Sister George

"Sensitive and touching, very funny - an elegant, disciplined production, evoking the world of 18th Century eloquence...the cutting edge of modern directing."
Manchester on Stage on The Game of Love and Chance

"A first-class production, with a talented cast, which deserves to play to capacity audiences in the months to come."
Oxford Times on My Mother Said I Never Should

"London Classic Theatre's inaugural national touring production left a challenging impression. An undoubted triumph for director Michael Cabot."
Westmorland Gazette on Oleanna

Archive

THE CARETAKER by Harold Pinter (2010)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Peter Foster.
Cast (April-June 2010): Nicholas Gadd, Nicholas Gasson, Richard Stemp.
Cast (September-November 2010): John Dorney, Nicholas Gasson, Richard Stemp.

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE by Martin McDonagh (2009 & 2010)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Kerry Bradley, Lighting Joe Vose, Costumes Katja Krzesinska
Cast (2009): Paul Boyle, Carole Dance, Alan DeVally, Steve Dineen and Alice Selwyn.
Cast (2010): Alan DeVally, Brendan Fleming, Paddy Glynn and Connie Walker.

HUMBLE BOY by Charlotte Jones (2008 & 2009)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Jeremy Daker, Lighting Peter Foster.
Cast: Jeryl Burgess (2009), Peter Cadden, Carole Dance (2008), John Dorney, Catherine Harvey, Pauline Whitaker and Martin Wimbush.

ABIGAIL’S PARTY by Mike Leigh (2007 & 2008)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Peter Foster, Costumes Katja Krzesinska
Cast (2008): Steve Dineen, Anna Kirke, Jamie Matthewman, Alice Selwyn and Amy Starling
Cast (2007): Steve Dineen, Paula Jennings, Helen Johns, Benjamin Warren and Pauline Whitaker.

NIGHTFALL by Joanna Murray-Smith (2007)
Creative Team: Director/Designer Michael Cabot, Lighting by Peter Foster
Cast: Jonathan Coote, Catherine Harvey, Pauline Whitaker.

THE DOUBLE INCONSTANCY by Marivaux (2006)
Translation: David Baldwin & Michael Cabot
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Peter Foster.
Cast: Jonathan Ashley, Kevin Drury, Tracey-Anne Liles, Abby Leamon, Georgina Landau and Benjamin Warren.

OLD TIMES by Harold Pinter (2006)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Jackie Drew, Julie Hale and Richard Stemp.

LOVE IN THE TITLE by Hugh Leonard (2005)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Kerry Bradley, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Lisa Burrows, Annemarie Gaillard and Julie Hale.

FROZEN by Bryony Lavery (2005)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Peter Cadden, Maggie O’Brien and Carolyn Tomkinson.

THE CARETAKER by Harold Pinter (2004)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Nicholas Gasson, Richard Stemp and Benjamin Warren.

CLOSER by Patrick Marber (2004)
Creative Team: Director & Designer Michael Cabot, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Kevin Drury, Ben Nathan, Amanda Osborne and Josie Taylor.

ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE by Joe Orton (2003)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Jens Demant Cole, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Peter Cadden, Nicholas Gasson, Benjamin Warren and Pauline Whitaker.

MOLLY SWEENEY by Brian Friel (2003)
Creative Team: Director & Designer Michael Cabot, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Peter Cadden, Marie McCarthy and Christopher Patrick Nolan.

THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE by Frank Marcus (2002)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Suzannah Pilcher, Joy Roston, Jackie Skarvellis, Pauline Whitaker and Anna Ziman.

SOMEONE WHO’LL WATCH OVER ME by Frank McGuinness (2002)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Nicholas Gasson, Christopher Patrick Nolan and Patrick Poletti.

LOOK BACK IN ANGER by John Osborne (2001)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Ian Bass, Amy Bayless, Kevin Drury, Andrew McDonald, Jonathan Waite and Clare Wille.

THE GAME OF LOVE AND CHANCE by Marivaux. In a new translation by David Baldwin & Michael Cabot (2001)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Amy Bayless, Mark Cameron, Jackie Drew, Kevin Drury, Brian Douglas and Richard Stemp.

MY MOTHER SAID I NEVER SHOULD by Charlotte Keatley (2000)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Paula Jennings, Grace Mitchell, Marianne O’Connor and Pauline Whitaker.

OLEANNA by David Mamet (2000)
Creative Team: Director Michael Cabot, Designer Geraldine Bunzl, Lighting Guy Hoare.
Cast: Amy Bayless and Chris MacDonnell.

From 2000-2020, all of London Classic Theatre’s production and publicity images have been taken by Sheila Burnett. Sheila’s particular skill of capturing the essence of a moment on stage and transferring it into a striking, evocative image has served us incredibly well and we are proud of our long association with her work.

To see more of Sheila’s work, please visit her website – Sheila Burnett Photography

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