The Good Doctor

An evening of Chekhov short stories performed by a decent (Conn Artists) theatre company; should be a cracker, I thought. Sadly not. For two reasons really: firstly, Chekhov may be a revered writer but this collection (adapted by Neil Simon) just failed to hit the mark. Humorous yes, but not hilarious. Secondly, the evening just didn’t flow. The cast did their best (although I am convinced at one point one of them was reading the lines from a book) but it was too bitty. The humour wasn’t subtle, therefore the characters weren’t. It was all a bit two dimensional. Admittedly at times there was poignancy and gravitas, but at others it was pantomimey or sub standard farce. Shame, really.

Connaught Theatre, Worthing, 2 October 2014
Rating:
Lee Stevens