MRS KLEIN

at the Almeida Theatre (Off West End)

Genre: Drama
Opened 29 Oct 2009
Written: by Nicholas Wright
Directed: Thea Sharrock
Cast Includes: London,1934. Melanie Klein is one of the most admired, yet controversial, psycho-analysts of her time, renowned for her unique insight into the secret world of childhood. But her relationship with her psycho-analyst daughter Melitta has been damaged almost beyond repair, and an unexpected message from abroad brings it to bitter confrontation. The news also poses a mystery that even Mrs. Klein, despite her genius for analysis, cannot solve. It is left to her new assistant, a refugee from Hitler’s Berlin, to find a possible answer.

What the popular press had to say.....
MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GUARDIAN says, "Even if the play is thematically over-layered, it exerts an increasingly powerful grip...Thea Sharrock's production explores every cranny of a complex text and is vividly acted." RHODA KOENIG for INDEPENDENT says, "A rather bloodless affair...While suffering from the general lack of oomph, Clare Higgins's Klein is utterly convincing as a woman of superb confidence, grandly amused at her own intellect, as if it had a separate existence as the precocious child she never had." DOMINIC MAXWELL for THE TIMES says, "Terrifically poised revival...its intelligence and wit eventually lead to a considerable emotional kick." DAVID BENEDICT for VARIETY says, "The play's emotions are displayed rather than driven. And the result feels more rehearsed than directed." HENRY HITCHINGS'S for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "This is a thoughtfully conceived production, a treat for admirers of fine acting." SUSANNAH CLAPP for THE OBSERVER says, "Skilful play... absorbing production." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "For much of its first half Mrs Klein is often grindingly dull, meticulously acted though...In the second half, however, during bitter confrontations between mother and daughter, the play fitfully flares into dramatic life." IAN SHUTTLEWORTH for THE FINANCIAL TIMES says, "Wright’s play is clever, amusing and poignant, sometimes all at once."

External links to full reviews from popular press
The Guardian
The Independent
The Times
The Observer
Daily Telegraph
Financial Times

Production photo by John Haynes