Grace Pervades at Theatre Royal Haymarket is by people who love theatre about people who love theatre for people who love theatre. The play explores the relationship between two of the most influential actors in England’s history, starring Miranda Raison as Ellen Terry and Ralph Fiennes as Henry Irving. Their story is about love and compromise and passion. When Raison and Fiennes are on-stage, they are captivating. They are so natural as their characters and have such beautiful chemistry together. The entire show, I just wanted to know more about them and their relationship. However, instead we had too many scenes about Ellen Terry’s children and their boring lives. Although I was interested in her daughters lesbian throuple and her son’s affair, these aspects were never discussed during the play. I understand the playwright’s intent was to show Terry and Irving’s influence and inspiration, but it fell flat because of how incredibly boring these plotlines were. If these scenes of the Terry siblings were replaced with more of Fiennes and Raison, every minute of this play would have enthralled me. This being said, I did enjoy the narration from the children and I think that would have been enough to show how their mother and Irving influenced them and their lives. What I think added to some of my boredom throughout the play, was the pace of the show. Much of the play moved at a very slow, careful pace and had very little times when this changed. I think moments where the pace slows can be beautiful, but when the entire show moves that slow, it is hard to appreciate those moments. Overall, I thought the acting, the costumes, and the lighting were beautiful, I would just have preferred the story to be structured differently. Also the Royal Haymarket desperately needs to invest in new seats as soon as possible.
-Milly Medlock
Theatre in London U of A 