Juno and the Paycock Reviews

Vivienne Stockley from London, England

PERFECTLY PERFORMED

Always enjoy watching Rylance. Not sure his accent was Irish, but must have been. He's riveting. Lead lady very impressive, convincing. All well casted. First half quite humorous, second half tragic. You don't leave elated! But it's a tip-top theatre and thought-provoking. The door on stage didnt slam shut.

Robin Hollington from London, England

GRIPPING

Full house at a Wednesday matinee performance. Rylance was brilliant. But, as the heroine, Juno stole the show- and had the line that God did not will the mayhem, which was rather the work of men. For the student of social history, a must. Definitely worth it.

John S from Brighton

FUNNIER THAN I IMAGINED

I came in blind as didn't read up on story but knew it was about the "troubles" in Ireland 100 years ago. First half reminded me a bit of an old Ealing comedy, the acting is superb, couldn't fault anyone and there was a lovely bit of breaking the fourth wall which I didn't expect Last half is,well let's say things don't go to plan. An excellent night at the theatre

Anne Neville from West London, England

MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION.

As it started at 7.0, I arrived a little late so had to wait half an hour to get in. Rylance was very funny as Boyle though I was not so impressed by Juno. It is her play and I didn’t think the Succession actress had the strength and courage for the part. The other actors were fine and the set suited the tenement building. I was a little fazed by the pietà that appeared centre stage at the end but I suppose it was to suggest Juno’s grief. Bit OTT for me

Anthony Mark from London, England

THE FIRST ROLE OF AN ACTOR IS TO SPEAK THEIR TEXT CLEARLY

The star of the play was J Smith Cameron whose accent and diction and emotional range was perfect. I found Rylance disappointing, two dimensional, always a drunk, playing the part for laughs, even corpsing, but without shades of light and dark. It’s a fine play but sitting in the back of the stalls much of the dialogue was lost by actors focusing more on their Irish accents than displaying O’Caseys wonderful script.

Martin from London, England

GOOD ACTING BUT RIDICULOUS STAGING

This is an excellent play with thoughtful and compelling dialogue. Mark Rylance and most of the cast act amazingly well, but they are hampered by distracting production design and overblown needless visual imagery. The second act literally loses the plot. It would seem almost impossible to spoil Sean O Casey's masterpiece as it is so well written but in act 2 this production tries its best to do so. And why do the cast all have chalky makeup. Really didnt understand that, and it makes intense scenes vaguely silly.

Jac from London, England

JUNO AND THE PEACOCK

I felt the staging didn't quite work. The accents of the leads were very poor and so far away from a Dublin central city accent. Have always loved Mark Rylance but there were parts it was hard to listen to.

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