“A play of contemporary manners, lampooning the upper classes in the very area of London that they congregate should be a clever, satirical piece of writing. However, Mullarkey's script is meandering, unfunny and full of unfinished ideas.”
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“There are game performances all round, but the largely excellent cast just don’t have the material to work with...‘Mates in Chelsea’ feels like a toothless shadow of that high watermark, a bankrupt descendent, destined to be forgotten.”
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“You could argue that, like its superfluous anti-hero, the piece dabbles intellectually rather than fully dissects its subject...But through laughter and unexpected invitations to empathy, it valuably wrestles with the state we’re in, depicting, in Tug’s final mate-lessness, a social divide that looks as unsustainable as it is undesirable.”
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“After enduring this puerile would-be comedy by Rory Mullarkey I’m once again left wondering how an institution that was once renowned for being bold and innovative manages to keep unearthing new writing that is so feeble.”
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“Sam Pritchard’s production feels pacey and energetic, and although it sometimes struggles to pull together all of it’s narrative threads there’s more than enough here to make it an enjoyable evening. ‘Mates In Chelsea’ is braver than it first appears, taking satire to a level where some might not even realise that’s what it’s intended to be.”
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“The actors all remain admirably committed, and the production as a whole is diverting, even if the material is badly overstretched. But as a work of satire in a time of deepening inequality, when overconfident, underprepared toffs much like Tug and Charlton have wrought lasting damage on the nation, this is unforgivably toothless.”
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"A lot of the humour depends on the funny foreigner stereotypes — a variety of heavy accents — beloved of British playwrights, and this tends to undercut Mullarkey’s serious points about how the childish and impoverished British aristos are fair game for worldly and loaded Russian tycoons."
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“The script overworks itself to show rather than tell...’Mates in Chelsea’ stems from a funny concept but in the large space downstairs at the Royal Court, it feels like a satirical comedy sketch that has been overstretched to vapidity in order to fit a full length play.”
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