[reviews of other shows deleted] Does George S Kaufman and Edna Ferber's Twenties Broadway comedy, The Royal Family – revived by Peter Hall at the Haymarket – slip into the same category? [suggesting that this show is chasing its own tail] Loosely inspired by the Drew-Barrymore theatrical dynasty, it comes across as faded frivolity for a long stretch. Three generations of top actresses – Fanny (Judi Dench), Julie (Harriet Walter) and Gwen Cavendish (assured newcomer Emily Blunt) – swan around their New York apartment. A minor-league sister-in-law (Julia McKenzie) is resoundingly kept in her place and dashing brother Anthony (Toby Stephens) is insanely flamboyant.

The cast's energy is uneven, and so are their accents. Yet Dench progresses from hilarious put-downs to poignant, terminal frailty. Ferber and Kaufman embrace the future, spotlighting proto-career women and Anthony's model of a Brechtian stage design. And ultimately Hall's gang rise above caricatures to celebrate the eternal pull of the theatre.

This review by Kate Bassett appeared in the Sunday Independent (UK) on November 4, 2001.
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