The Homecoming London Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (18)
See it if you enjoy Pinter
Don't see it if you can't accept the way culture was in the 1960s.
See it if You like absorbing drama, well acted and directed.
Don't see it if Swearing bothers you or violence Read more
See it if You like pinter
Don't see it if You want something modern
See it if You like Harold Pinter plays. This was a good production of an older play, which has relevant themes.
Don't see it if You like light entertainment. This is quite heavy, a little confusing, and quite slow in parts.
See it if want yet another runout of Pinter
Don't see it if Have no idea what people and theatre industry see in Pinter nowdays
See it if As a cure for insomnia
Don't see it if You have anything, literally anything better to do Read more
See it if You want to see an absorbing and engaging play with incredible acting
Don't see it if The language and subject matter is pretty hard going. It is not a relaxing experience
See it if Deeply unpleasant play. Looks very stylish. Some great performances
Don't see it if Elements of the audience appear to approve of the misogynistic attitudes and contempt for women which I found more offensive than the play
Critic Reviews (10)
“This is a story about the impossibility of escaping your past, or your nature. Its flaw is that Teddy is a passive, insipid character compared to his male kin, and that in the world of the play, all women are whores...But you don’t need that contemporary relevance to appreciate a terrific production that renders the play as both an authentic 1960s artefact, and a timeless study of aggression.”
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“Dunster is second to none when it comes to wrangling celebrity casts – this is the first stage outing in years for Harris and Cole – and there are solid performances here, most notably Diveney as the ambivalent Ruth. And I really think I get what he’s tried to do directorially: essentially bring Pinter back to his east London, working-class roots and sod the metaphysics.”
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“Harold Pinter’s two-act family drama has variously been seen as an Oedipal struggle between fathers and sons, a misogynistic tract that fatally sexualises its female character...Matthew Dunster’s production, intentionally or otherwise, appears more like a snapshot of misogyny at its most unapologetic”
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“this ‘Homecoming’ is played like a dark drawing room comedy, skating along the surface of the play. Perhaps there are no depths to be discovered. I begin to wonder.”
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“The play, even in as variable a revival as the one now at the Young Vic, remains as mysterious as ever: a two-hour provocation that may prove rough sailing for some in today’s hyper-sensitised times but is worth attention for a linguistic command that is both elliptical and energising.”
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"Matthew Dunster’s revival of Pinter’s 1965 play is stylishly expressive, and boasts a real star turn from the Crown and Mad Men alumnus"
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“It’s a bleakly horrible psychodrama, delivered with consummate skill.”
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“...Harold Pinter’s ‘The Homecoming’ needs a clear-sighted vision to keep things the right kind of fairytale nightmarish. Director Matthew Dunster’s staging might have a megawatt cast on board, but it feels horribly underpowered on the Young Vic’s massive stage.”
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