Epitaph for George Dillon Review

Overall Rating

Great acting and a good play - a lovely way to round off an excellent day

Joseph Fiennes' duffel coat - not a good look for him; although you can't argue that the set design and costumes were brilliantly 1950's

Going to see "Epitaph for George Dillon" was a spur of the moment thing, so my (delightful) companion and I had few expectations when we arrived at the charming Comedy Theatre. The play concerns George, an out of work actor/writer, who is invited to stay with Mrs Elliot, the kindly matriarch of a 1950's suburban lower middle class family. She is married to the cynical Percy, and together they have two bland daughters, Nora and Josie. Ruth, Mrs Elliot's more sophisticated sister, also lodges with them, and together all four women become involved, on some level or another, with George.

I have little knowledge of John Osborne's works, other than "Look Back in Anger", but I knew enough to know that we were not going to be treated to an evening of farcical comedy. I was not disappointed (except for an amusing footwear incident that occurred between me and my companion in the interval that did verge on the slapstick). There were lots of moments of intense emotion and tension (mainly between George - Joseph Fiennes, he who got it on with Gwyneth P in "Shakespeare in Love", and Ruth - Francesca Annis, she who is currently getting it on in real life with Joseph's older brother, Ralph). These moments were very good and well acted, and they were interspersed with other good moments of light relief, and subtle comic observations from the superb supporting cast.

Altogether I enjoyed the play, it fairly whizzed along, although I was starting to flag a little at the end. This may have been more to do with the two bottles of Argentinian Chardonnay my companion and I had managed to consume over an excellent long lunch at the Tate Modern (with an outstanding view of the currently toll-less Millennium Bridge, and a rather bizarre Tree Man coaxing a technically-hopeless gig/rowing boat thing on the Thames), rather than any deficiency with the actors or play.