Neither actor really pulls off Mamet's very difficult first act. Full of unfinished sentences and interruptions, it is very hard to play it as fast as it needs to be played and still ensure that the English audience will grasp it. But your perseverance will be rewarded after the interval when the play concentrates less on academia and dry educational approaches and more on power and both actors get into the swing.
Mesmerising. Andrew Scott is immediately gripping as Langley Collyer, a concert pianist with meticulous and exacting standards for the playing of music. In white tie and tails but with the bow tie undone, he rages about a note and the difference between identical and the same, which has the non musicians in the audience puzzled. His language is refined and esoteric, his personality extreme but fascinating. Our reaction is to be amused.
The thrilling musical In the Heights finds a fabulous new space for its energetic dance and melodic song . . . "Yo! With 96,000, I'd finally fix housing Give the…