Review: All About Eve

Based on the 1950 film, All About Eve is an intense production about jealousy, theatre, love, friendship and ambition.

Margo Channing is the best actress there is and the one everyone loves and wants to work for, she is then introduced to her biggest fan Eve. Doing what she thinks is right Margo takes in Eve who becomes her closest friend. However, over time Eve starts to find a taste for wanting the spotlight and becoming a big actress herself but where does that leave Margo?

A stellar cast help tell us All About Eve, firstly we have Gillian Anderson who plays Margo Channing, Margo is the best actress and she knows it, she is shallow and very insecure but behind all that she is very vulnerable and Gillian portrays this amazingly she was incredible and we got to know the character and her thought process. Then we have the gorgeous Lily James as manipulative Eve Harrington, a very different role for Lily and she thrived within as she is very good at playing the sweet character then we see turn and she was really good at that, I adore her so much. After these two main characters we have a tight knit group of characters who support them. We have Karen Richards played by Monica Dolan who actually tells us the story throughout and is a very important loyal friend to Margo, who by trying to help Margo, unleashes the badness in Eve and it is her kindness that brings Eve into the fold originally. We then have Karen's husband Lloyd Richards played by Rashian Stone who is a playwright who adores Margo and writes plays purely with her in mind and is also a really good friend towards her. Bill Sampson played by Julian Ovenden is another budding young playwright who is destined for Hollywood and is also Margo's lover, I liked Bill he was fierecly loyal to Margo and did not hide the fact that he loved her and he wasn't going to give up on her. The relationship between them was real one minute they adored each other and the next they were arguing, but at the end they still loved each other and couldn't do without one another. Next is Birdie played by Sheila Reid, I'd call Birdie Margo's right hand woman, she is almost a mother figure to her and the only person Margo truly trusts, I just wished she had more to do throughout because the one liners she had were brilliant. Then we have Addison DeWitt who is a critic who can either make you or break, so do not cross him, he opens the play with an impressive monologue introducing us to Margo and Eve and setting us up for the night. Last member of the group is Max Fabian played by Ian Drysdale, I'm not sure what Max does, I think he's a casting director but he's not really a big character so we don't see much of him which was disappointing. There are a few others that make up more of the cast but overall the cast is very small and I think it works well. They make the best out of a storyline that I thought could have been better.

What really helps this play is firstly the staging, it is very simple with just the movement of props to make it seem different also this piece of staging that just raises up when needs to. It's all very simple and works so well they make use of the whole stage there is a lot of background details and acting that you need to keep an eye out for such as the changing round of pictures. Another massive part is the use of technology, this was incredible when we sat down we noticed two little telly screens either side within the audience and these are used at various points to show what's on the big screen on stage. There are various cameras that are dotted around. The play starts with a walk round into the background of the stage whilst the opening monologue is given. Then the dressing table has a camera within it, the bathroom we never physically saw the inside on stage but cameras within the staging made us able to see the acting within. There was also a kitchen type area as well where there was a camera person. It was really clever how this was all incorporated and the fact that the actors had to know where these cameras were and work in time with things that were happening on screen. The back ground pictures of the two women were incredible I wish I looked that good. It's all about the small details and that's one of my favourite things about this play. 

The theatre itself was stunning, although it had a small foyer, the programme wasn't overpriced at £4.50 and there were notices about stage door after the play and also in the foyer you could buy ice cream and snacks to keep you going. The play itself was 2 hours solid with no interval which made it feel really short but it was very different. Then we descended a copious amount of stairs to get into the stalls and it was stunning it felt one of the more smaller theatres I have been in but I like the seats we were Row Q seats 18 and 19 and they were perfectly fine. Sometimes I find that the dress circle can overhang quite a bit like at the Haymarket but at the Noel Coward it didn't so we were able to see the whole stage without any problems. The staff were really nice and polite, I really liked the theatre as a whole and would return. 

Overall, I enjoyed All About Eve but I feel it is something I can only watch once because otherwise it lose it's element of surprise within the storyline. I loved the acting and the staging. I would recommend if you are looking to see something different and you love theatre because it is like a mini love letter to the world of theatre.

All About Eve is running at the Noel Coward Theatre until 10th May 2019, to book tickets click here: All About Eve Tickets
On Thursday 11th April there will be a National Theatre Live broadcast into cinemas.

Until next time

Stacey x