Some More Reviews of The Pain and The Itch

What's On Stage has given The Pain and The Itch 4 stars. The full review can be found here.

He [Norris] has done a wonderful job ...

Clay (Matthew MacFadyen) is a nauseatingly “correct” house husband ...

 

London Theatre Guide has their review out, too:

Cleverly constructed by Norris and with dialogue which makes its point with every line, The Pain And The Itch is a hilariously cynical satire with some disturbingly recognisable, and unsympathetic, characters. Matthew Macfadyen acts Clay as a man always attempting to do the right thing but getting confused in the process, trying to disguise the marital problems with his sharp, uptight wife (Sara Stewart) while dealing with his own long-held familial insecurities. Andrea Riseborough grabs much of the laughter as the no-nonsense, fun-loving Kalina, who puts a spanner in Kelly’s politically-correct works at every turn and undermines Kelly’s precious claims of ‘abuse’. Peter Sullivan is an unpleasantly cynical Cash while Amanda Boxer is spot-on as the innocently racist mother Carol. Shannon Kelly as Kayla, meanwhile, is an expert screamer.

 

JaneV has given us some excerpts from today's newspapers and the scans!:

Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph (see attachment below to read the full review)

"....while Matthew Macfadyen hilariously & poignantly suggests the bitter sense of emasculation of her (Sara Stewart's) husband...
"This is a terrifically entertaining sometimes disturbing play that asks uncomfortable questions about the way the West lives now".


Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail gives 3 stars (see attachment below to read the full review)

..."Matthew Macfadyen so often a male romantic lead is also to be congratulated on undertaking the part of the wet haddock of a house-husband Clay.
Mr Macfadyen has bulked out a bit and is now a ringer for David Cameron. Expect to see him in the first Cameron bio-pic."
... "Were it not for the flashbacks, this could be a strongly commercial show. The trendies in the audience at Tuesday night's preview did not quite know how to respond, but well done Royal Court."
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