NO MAN’S LAND A West End Hit! Press Night Reviews & Curtain Call Photos

September 21, 2016

Take a Bow! No Man’s Land opens to critical acclaim

Wyndhams Theatre opened its doors to national press, invited guests and an excited audience on Tuesday night, for the No Man’s Land official London opening.

Opening night buzz at Wyndham's Theatre ahead of this evening's performance! #NoMansLand pic.twitter.com/IpkZd7J7tW
— No Man's Land (@NoMansLandPlay) September 20, 2016

Photographed after their performance in the four man Harold Pinter play, the cast received a standing ovation during the curtain call, with director Sean Mathias joining them for the final encore.

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The praise didn’t end there, with national press giving the production and actors overwhelmingly positive reviews and a glittering array of 5 and 4 stars, right across the board.

As the two best-loved theatrical knights of the acting world, ultra-talented Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, who portray two ageing writers in the play, are unsurprisingly lauded as Masters of the stage. But, equally unsurprisingly, Damien as Foster, alongside Owen Teale as Briggs, more than hold their own and their performances also earn well deserved recognition.

Check out our reviews roundup below.

5 Stars – The Telegraph
“All four actors on stage (with Damien Molony and Owen Teale completing the quartet) display a deft sense of how to knock every utterance for six..”

5 Stars – The Londonist
“There is strong support from Owen Teale as the gruffly voiced, aggressive Briggs and Damien Molony as the provocatively camp Foster to complete a well-balanced ensemble of competing forces scrabbling around in no man’s land.”

4 Stars – The Guardian
“four excellent actors, under Mathias’s direction, exquisitely capture the fluctuations of mood of this remarkable play”

4 Stars – The Independent
“two thuggish minders whose insolent possessiveness and vaguely homoerotic complicity are excellently communicated by Owen Teale and Damian Molony.”

4 Stars – Broadway World UK
“Damien Molony gives a superb Foster, oozing charisma, flirting just the right amount to confuse both Spooner and the audience. Matched by Owen Teale’s steely Briggs, the pair completes this quartet of excellence. The whole cast is a worthy ensemble, and regardless of your appetite for Pinter it’s a pleasure seeing them flex their theatrical muscles and squeeze meaning out of every line.”

4 Stars – The Stage
“The two actors, [Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart] a year apart in age at 76 and 77 respectively, are extraordinary in the way they convey a sense of isolation and containment, and they find plenty of humour too in the imposing gloom of Mathias’ darkly calibrated production…Owen Teale and Damien Molony also bring the required sense of menace to the servants who police their interactions.”

4 Stars – Radio Times
“Everyone is good: Stewart is the picture of melancholy, while Damien Molony and Owen Teale are sinister as Hirst’s mysterious associates. But it’s McKellen who gives the masterclass. Every tic, every expression, every fumble with his hat or coat is carefully measured. You simply can’t take your eyes off him.”

4 Stars – Time Out
“Set and costume designer Stephen Brimson Lewis also extracts some definite LOLs with the ‘70s setting: Molony and Teale look ludicrous, and a the deadpan deployment of an anachronistic serving trolley gets a deserved round of giggles. ”
“It’s not a boundary-pushing or definitive production, but it’s a finely-balanced and entertaining one, suggestive of the absurdity and chaos of late life and the disintegration of memory.”

Our highlight however is Live Theatre UK’s 5 star review prior to press night, with the following special mention of Damien:

The production has already completed a one month tour across the UK and will run at Wyndhams Theatre in London until 17 December, with an NT Live cinema broadcast worldwide on 15 December.