Five Finger Exercise, theatre review: First-rate revival of a family at war

This long-overdue revival of Peter “Amadeus” Shaffer’s 1958 drama follows a monied family going quietly to pieces
Fiona Mountford25 January 2016

How cheering to come across a production which offers so much to celebrate.

First, it’s terrific to see a long-overdue revival of this finely judged 1958 drama, which marked Peter “Amadeus” Shaffer’s first big hit. Next, what a well-calibrated cast of five actor-turned-director Jamie Glover has assembled, including three eye-catching performances from notable newcomer talents. Remember the names of Terenia Edwards, Lorne MacFadyen and Tom Morley.

The Harrington family, monied thanks to father’s hard work, is going quietly to pieces, sundered by the seemingly insuperable divide between culture and commerce.

Clive (Morley, a compellingly anxious bundle of angles and elbows) used to side with his mother (Lucy Cohu, an unruffled swan gliding over churning waters), but the freedom of university has started to teach him otherwise.

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1/50

The arrival of young German tutor Walter (MacFadyen, pitch-perfect) to teach exuberant young Pamela (Edwards, energetic and unfettered) results in battle lines becomingly decisively drawn over the course of a long and anguished weekend in the country. First-rate.

Until February 13, Print Room (020 3642 6606, the-print-room.org)

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