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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Fiona Mountford's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Josie Rourke.
Cast: Robert Glenister
Description: Robert Glenister stars as Edward Carr in Neil LaBute's solo drama about a man whose world is shattered by the death of his wife. Directed by Josie Rourke.
Trains: Tube: Shepherds Bush 
Phone: 0208743 5050
Website: www.bushtheatre.co.uk
Engaging performer: Robert Glenister
The trouble with a play from Neil LaBute is that we find ourselves longing for it to end. Not because the life-too-short/drama-too-long equation works against it but because LaBute’s stock-in-trade — or perhaps that should be shock-in-trade — is, at the very last, to reveal a fact so thrillingly cruel and unexpected it turns everything we have heard on its head. At its finest, the tactic worked to explosive effect in The Shape of Things but the problem with this monologue is that the duly shattering conclusion cannot compensate for the previous 70 underwhelming minutes.
Wrecks, which played for a limited run in New York, disappointingly comes across as an off-cut, rather than top-drawer LaBute. For a dramatist so skilled at scalpel-sharp dialogue, the monologue form also seems a peculiar choice. Nonetheless, here we are, thanks to Lucy Osborne’s spot-on design, in a plush Midwest funeral parlour, where late-middle-aged Edward Carr (Robert Glenister) graciously mourns the passing of his beloved wife, Mary‑Jo, 15 years his senior.
We learn that after some initial upheaval, which saw Mary-Jo leave her wealthy Swedish husband for Edward, the couple enjoyed 30 years of mutually cherishing happiness. Glenister, an engaging performer who holds the stage with ease rather than dominating it with unappealing force in Josie Rourke’s fluid production, gives us snapshots of a marriage. Berating himself gently for early-onset nostalgia, he looks back to his youth, a time of “small chivalry and proper thoughts”, in one memorable phrase.
Yes, yes, we find ourselves thinking, Edward’s success in the classic auto-rental market is all very well, but what’s the catch, Mr LaBute?
When the ending comes, with its mention of a long-held secret, it’s expertly spun out for maximum impact. This time, though, it seems a cheaper trick than ever before.
Until 28 March 28. Information: 020 8743 5050, www.bushtheatre.co.uk
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
