The Roundabout NYC Reviews and Tickets

“This sparkling, impeccably staged play will be catnip to ‘Downton Abbey’ devotees, with equal doses of humor and insight...Some period conventions creak…The director, Hugh Ross, adds a soupçon of farce to the percolating proceedings, keeping his busy cast on point. Throughout, Priestley gently reminds us of the ephemerality of affluence in a teetering economy. His words, with their generous, sympathetic regard for human nature, cast a binding glow over the production.”
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“A truly charming play, one that will appeal to a broad audience…Directed by Hugh Ross, the staging is superb and the show's cast shines bright in their roles…The comings and goings of these colorful characters, the clash of social classes, and the fast-paced, clever dialogue create a totally entertaining and engaging theatrical experience. You'll love the cast of 'The Roundabout.' They are funny, lively and authentic.”
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“'The Roundabout' is a very mild evening of drawing-room skirmishes, the sort of thing that Coward, Maugham, and Frederick Lonsdale handled far more deftly…A few bright remarks aside, this is a strictly by-the-numbers affair: Couples are arranged and rearranged…Hugh Ross' production could use some additional layers of high-comedy style, but it gets the job done…‘The Roundabout’ will probably keep audiences amused, but it is a lesser example of its genre."
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"A charming and well-performed work with an undercurrent of social criticism...A well-oiled ensemble, which, under Hugh Ross's direction, does a fine job of keeping the lighter-than-air domestic comedy floating stylishly and smoothly for its close to two-and-half-hour running time...While 'The Roundabout' may not exactly be a newly rediscovered treasure unearthed from the good old days, it provides enough delights to make it well worth the visit."
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“While the play pretends to be making a statement about British class structure and the economic and social changes that were occurring in the 1930's, it is both very lightweight and very much a period piece of an earlier age. The repartee is good but, alas, the play is not particularly witty nor does it offer memorable one liners. From the usually brilliant J.B. Priestley we have come to expect a good deal more originality.”
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“A comedic, but inconsequential, look at upper-class decadence…'The Roundabout' is played for laughs, rather than ideas… All told, 'The Roundabout' is well-acted and well-staged. I wish that were enough, but it's not. Despite the still-timely reference to sexual misconduct, the play is dated; despite some terrific one-liners, its assets are insufficient to recommend what is ultimately a stale production.”
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“Unearthing old theatre gems is like digging for truffles–and British director Hugh Ross has found one…It sparkles with the wit of Wilde, the frivolity of Coward, and the saltiness of Shaw…‘The Roundabout’ holds the promise of an entertaining comedy of manners–but delivers far more…In the midst of all this frivolity, playwright Priestley offers a sharp, satirical bird's-eye view of an anxious era when England’s social order is changing and facing growing threats from abroad.”
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"Incessant flippant chatter is crisply deployed along with archaic social commentary...Going along with the presumption that pretentiously affected acting comes with the territory and with this import, credit is due to the cast and to Ross who has affably and effectively abetted...Notwithstanding the play's relative insignificance, it actually makes a slight and snippy jab at a world of disengaged gentry...A play that is, if nothing less or more, appropriately named."
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"Under Hugh Ross’s well-paced direction, the cast is uniformly engaging...It is the unpredictability of these parallel story lines that makes 'The Roundabout' consummately entertaining...Priestley chooses not to explore the issues he introduces with any depth...Still, Mr. Priestley’s 1931 'very light comedy' is a delightful romp around the roundabout well worth the trip."
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“'The Roundabout'…offers enough nutrition for a band of first-rate thespians to feast on to make its resurrection edible. However, it's still second-rate Priestley, far too long and chatty, at two hours and 15 minutes, for its wafer-thin, drawing room/romantic comedy plot, leavened by political satire…There's some enjoyment to be derived from Priestley's then timely and sometimes still pertinent observations on social and economic matters, but the…laughs are mostly of the polite, muffled kind.”
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"A grand production, directed exactly as it should be and with precisely the right cast...Dated, yes, but possessing the kind of charm those plays continue to hold...'The Roundabout' also has a very special humor about it...The true value is that it’s Priestley getting laughs at the expense of the upstart English who’ve jumped on the Communist bandwagon...A threat he might have taken more seriously. But if he had, 'The Roundabout' wouldn’t be half the fun it is."
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“A delightful romp into the past…Under Hugh Ross’ direction, the play moves at a clip and is crisp and refreshing. Mr. Sachs is delightful as ‘Chuffy,’ bringing comedic chops…Ms Laing has that ‘it’ factor that makes her completely watchable…Plays written in other eras are turning out to be morality plays that show us how little we have learned. With 'The Roundabout,' at least it is served up in a palatable, witty way.”
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“A classy staging...The sprightly cast is built around the life of Lord Kettlewell, played with charm and occasional bewilderment by the excellent Brian Protheroe…The excellent cast members include Richenda Carey, Charlie Field and Ed Pinker. Polly Sullivan has designed an effective Kettlewell country home in the small stage space, and Hugh Ross directs what is a very stylish production, the kind we have come to expect from visiting Brits.”
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"As it stands, we’re subjected to a tedious two hours in the hands of milquetoast Kettlewell, almost-ran Chuffy, bratty, tantrum-throwing, mischief-making Pamela, and boorish cliché Comrade Staggles...Aside from flickers, those onstage range from poor to irritating to ho-hum. Hugh Ross’s direction is so heavy-handed, movement has no motivation except audience view, irony goes by practically unnoticed."
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"Ambitious and well-acted...The actors deliver cut-glass diction and high style; it’s the play itself that frequently betrays their efforts...Unfortunately, Pamela is the center of the action, yet her character is often irritating, and Laing doesn’t make her as palatable as she needs to be...'The Roundabout' is no lost diamond, but it’s more than a lump of anthracite. For fans of Priestley or drawing-room comedy, there are charms. Too often, though, one wishes it were that missing diamond."
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"Emily Laing–both as character and actress–is half the show and worth every minute...The direction is tone-perfect and the cast without exception excellent...The play ends a little too quickly: we’re left with a sense that some explanations are needed about why things resolve as they do. But that’s only after a thoroughly delightful time spent at Lord Kettlewell’s country home."
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"It can safely be said that breezy debates about the virtues of communism versus capitalism, in a high-twit-factor, three-act, moldy British drawing-room comedy is hardly the place to do the topic justice...'The Roundabout' has quite a talented cast. The problem is that it’s just not terribly funny or impactful. It’s quite a bland offering...if you’re a huge fan of, say, 'The Importance of Being Ernest' and pine for spatterdashes and top hats, you’ll enjoy 'The Roundabout' immensely."
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“J.B. Priestley's ‘The Roundabout’ is an earlier, slighter work than those that established his reputation…The plot isn't quite sufficient to support over two hours' action…On the upside, Bessie Carter is splendid…Hugh Sachs has a lot of fun as Chuffy…As for the other characters - well, caricatures - I found them too broad to believe in really…Perhaps these plot problems are why the play has been forgotten for so long, but maybe now is the right time to revive it."
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"While not exactly the unearthing of a dramatic masterpiece, 'The Roundabout' is also more than a mere curiosity item...The stage is set for a keen comedy about social class that dances with witty banter...Hugh Ross' elegant production has not come to the boil quite yet, with one or two actors still on the back foot in their timing and some of their lines; but there are at least two exemplary lead performances that get the pace, period and pitch just right."
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"It has its moments, but you feel the domestic crises of a bankrupt aristo, which provide the main theme, fit oddly with Priestley’s glancing references to the state of the nation...Priestley tries to have it both ways: he satirises the upper class, while glibly sending up the young communists...You can see why the play was forgotten. Priestley never reconciled its comic and serious elements, but I was glad to have seen it, if only for the glimpse of what Auden dubbed 'a low, dishonest decade.'"
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"Hugh Ross’s sparky revival wisely never pretends this trifling piece is anything more than it is...Much of the subsequent fun is at the expense of Staggles, delightfully played by Steven Blakeley...But the performance of the evening comes from Bessie Carter...She lends the glamorous Pamela a delightfully Puckish sense of mischief...Priestley, though, seems to have lost interest in his own play as it proceeds."
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“About as substantial as a cocktail olive. A rattlebag of ridiculous contrivance and clownish characters, it lurches in tone from strained sub-Wildean aphorism to effortful Shavian dialectic...Although Hugh Ross’s boisterous production has a twinkling appeal, the whole experience manages to feel at once half-baked and overcooked…‘The Roundabout’ offers only the very slightest of pleasures, and when it stops pointlessly spinning, it’s rather a relief to get off.”
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"The main issue with this play is that it is simply pleasant, twee, and harmless. In other words, vanilla – dated and ultimately not particularly memorable...Ross makes traditional, expected choices for a play that bubbles with the undercurrent of revolution...In 'The Roundabout,' actors stumble over lines and unintentionally jump into each other’s dialogue, so while the production rolls along inoffensively, it doesn’t build any pace, impetus or drive."
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"Despite its quite clever setup, Priestley’s play never becomes more than silly fun, and so does not arrive to a meaningful conclusion either...The play itself is quite wordy, and so the actors have very little to do other than talking...The script is very entertaining...It certainly is not a risk-taking play, and Ross’ direction does not seem to discover anything new in it. But if you are after some traditional fun, you will certainly have a good time."
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"'The Roundabout' boasts a stellar cast who work very well together. Bessie Carter gives an excellent performance as Pamela, playing both her mischievous and vulnerable sides well...The rest of the cast give great performances complementing the main characters well...Hugh Ross’s direction is in keeping with the tone of the piece. Whilst the play doesn’t really have much of a plot it is worth seeing and is a funny and perceptive look at English life in the 1930s."
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