The Roundabout NYC Reviews and Tickets

"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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“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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"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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"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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