Rachel O’Riordan’s production gets some strong performances from the cast, but it never descends into the level of boisterous mayhem this kind of satire needs...it's hard not to wish he'd gone out all guns blazing, railing against times that badly need a satirist's pen.
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One comes away with the sense of having watched and enjoyed a diverting confection, a stylish exercise in pastiche with a gloss of contemporary debate, but ultimately superficial.
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In its best moments it has the look of an expensively produced Monty Python sketch with pastiche that really is joyous. But it gets baggier as it goes on and by the end begins to resemble a flabby ITV comedy with rather too predictable jokes on Tory politicians, their partying and policies over the pandemic.
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Like so much of his recent work, Scandaltown is a promising idea in search of another draft...Rachel O’Riordan’s direction fails to add fizz, and leaves the simple yet colourful set — designed by the Good Teeth team — looking disconcertingly underpopulated at times.
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However, there is a lot of pleasure to be had en route in Rachel O'Riordan's lively production, cleverly choreographed by Malik Nashad Sharpe. Simon Slater's music and Kinnetia Isidore's costumes mix the contemporary and the 17th century to striking effect. I smiled throughout; it's a sign of how high a bar Bartlett has set himself that I emerged vaguely disappointed.
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You’ll smile plenty during the overlong 2 and a half hours, but after a while, the grin may start to congeal as you are left wishing for something more.
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But beyond packing as many contemporary cultural references into his script as possible, Bartlett’s satire about the rich and powerful is underachieving...Though we might be having a Mike Bartlett moment, this is a clutter of a parody that, unlike some of his other triumphs, leaves a sour taste.
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The trouble is, the play seems as little interested in analysis as its characters. It all feels decidedly tired, like drinking champagne from a bottle that’s been open two days too long.
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