Director Sam Yates's production is definitely a slow-burner, but the slow reveal of the play's intricate patterns is deliberate, finding both the poetry and the drama in the seemingly banal.
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But there is a smart, poignant existential drama somewhere inside ‘The Starry Messenger’ that struggles to escape the black hole of Lonergan’s indulgent impulses.
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My own final verdict? Broderick fans will need to see this but it’s so low-heat the staff at Wyndham’s don’t need to worry about switching on the air-con this summer.
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It doesn't quite hit the heights, but it does – like the Planetarium in which it is set – offer a glimpse of them.
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Kenneth Lonergan's Off Broadway play trades heavily on deadpan as it crosses the pond.
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It’s full of calm and gentle wisdom about existence. We may have seen many more plays about sad, middle-aged white men in the 10 years since its Broadway premiere, but few have been as sensitive or, perhaps even, profound.
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Sam Yates directs with due care but, for all its perceptiveness, I felt Lonergan’s play would work even better on the screen.
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So, not a starry mess. But it's hard to be sure what the play is really about, and the languid approach makes for three hours of nebulous theatre.
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