Review: The Country Girl

The Country Girl, Theatre Royal, Brighton There’s a theatrical gem of a moment in the new touring production of The Country Girl when Jenny Seagrove, playing the embittered wife of a struggling alcoholic actor trying to make a comeback, blows a kiss to the director who is falling in love with her. It is haunting and beautiful and not only demonstrates the power of the actress - whose simple move speaks volumes about her life and love - but is symbolic of the charm and passion of Rufus Norris’s production.

The Clifford Odets play from the 1950s - often regarded as one of his ‘late and lesser’ pieces - isn’t often seen on stage and audiences today have probably all but forgotten the 1954 Hollywood film version starring Bing Crosby and William Holden, which won Grace Kelly an Oscar (and was immortalised with lines from it used in Mika’s first hit single more recently).

Its stop at Brighton was the last port of call before heading to the West End, and audiences lured by the chance to see a couple of quality stars in stunning form can hardly have been disappointed - though may also have found it rather heavy-going and slow.

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But this new revival deserves to be seen, lifting the drama above the level of being merely a dated and dull potboiler about gritty life backstage and dragging it away from the confines of one of its own lines, “showbusiness trying very hard to be theatre.”

David Guest