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What the popular press had to say...

"It's only when you relate Crimp's version to the tragi-comic world of Molière's original masterpiece that it falls seriously short...[Keira] Knightley brings to the role fine, sculpted features, palpable intelligence and a nice mix of faux-innocence and flirtiness. Even if she doesn't always know what to do with her hands, she gives a perfectly creditable performance."
Michael Billington for The Guardian

"Watchable though imperfectly focused production...The characters have insufficient chemistry; there’s a lack of dynamism and spark."
Henry Hitchings for The Evening Standard

"Excellent, platinum-cast revival of this 1996 contemporary update by Martin Crimp of Molière's great satire...[Keira] Knightley...in a performance that is not only strikingly convincing but, at times, rather thrilling."
Paul Taylor for The Independent

"This stinging, zinging play would be a hit without [Keira] Knightley. With her, it becomes unmissable."
Charles Spencer for The Daily Telegraph

"Keira Knightley may be one of 21st century cinema’s revered objects but on stage she proves little better than adequate."
Quentin Letts for The Mail

"There’s only one thing you want to know about this revival...can Keira Knightley act on stage? And the answer? yes, she can."
Jeremy Austin for The Stage

"Martin Crimp’s often witty, amusingly rhymed reworking of the play whisks both of them from 17th-century France to today’s smart-set London...She [Keira Knightley] catches the waywardness, occasionally the steel behind the velvety manner, the narcissistic love of attention, but not the authority to explain how she can dominate a gathering by more than beauty."
Benedict Nightingale for The Times

External links to full reviews from popular press
Independent - Guardian - Telegraph - Times

Latest Video Features

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Production Details
Venue: Comedy Theatre
Genre: Comedy
Previewed from 7 Dec 2009
Opened 17 Dec 2009
Written: by Moliere, version by Martin Crimp
Directed: Thea Sharrock
Cast includes: Damian Lewis, Keira Knightley, Tara Fitzgerald
Synopsis: Transported from 17th century Paris to modern-day London, Alceste is a famous British playwright disillusioned and angry with the hypocrisy, shallowness and vanity of the contemporary world.
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