"MAY God strike me dead if I ever take part in an all-star revival," declaims Fanny Cavendish - Judi Dench’s Norma Desmond lookalike thespian matriarch. Now Dame Judi seems like a smart lady, so she must be praying that God will at least strike her with enough force to get her out of The Royal Family.

On paper, the production couldn’t have much more going for it. The play is written by George S Kaufman and Edna Ferber, who between them have written The Man Who Came To Dinner, Showboat and most of the Marx Brothers’ movies. They have also won three Pulitzer Prizes. The cast is decidedly blue-chip and enjoys the direction of Sir Peter Hall. The production has the gorgeous Theatre Royal, Haymarket, as home.

It opens well. Anthony Ward’s set is quite fabulous. Unfortunately, the play is really not particularly funny, a problem in a comedy. And although every individual character comes with their own inconsequential mini-story, there is no strong central plot.

Dame Judi looks fabulous, has a great way with a put-down and has the strength of economy in her performance. Harriet Walter as her stage- star daughter is nervy, vocally mannered and resolutely vulnerable. She also shouts quite a lot. Peter Bowles gives "Performance No 3: the ageing egotistical loser".

Julia McKenzie, on the other hand, is very good as his talentless, ageing soubrette of a wife. Philip Voss, as the family agent, gives us a pantomime business Jew. Toby Stephens as the movie-star son is hopelessly over the top. Accents are mid-Atlantic. To paraphrase one of Dame Judi’s more successful roles, "I was not amused". today's online edition:

Thanks to Stephanie Flaherty for sending this review which appeared in the Scotsman (UK) on November 9, 2001.

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