BWW Reviews: TRELAWNY OF THE WELLS, Donmar Warehouse, February 26 2013

The Donmar's tiny 250-seat theatre is the perfect intimate space to be present at Rose Trelawny's farewell party.

She is the Belle of the Wells theatre company, sadly now departing her friends and comrades for a high society engagement, whereby she must live with the in-laws until she makes their approval.

However, despite her best endeavours, vixen-esque Rose (played by the exquisite Amy Morgan) manages to sabotage her eviction from the chairs of genteel Cavendish Square and back to the Wells, although much to everyone's despair, her grief at a love lost means she is now about as good as actress as Geri Halliwell was in Spice World: The Movie.

So her friends rally round and a solution is found. They company will put on their own play and the show will go on.

Trelawney of the Wells is Pinero's love letter to the theatre and his life mimics that of director Joe Wright's as both grew up in Islington with theatre in their communities (Pinero lived close to Sadler's Wells itself and Wright's parents founded the Little Angel Puppet Theatre, where he would take audience bookings from the age of five!).

Pinero's text has had some 'respectful additions and ornamentation' by the playwright Patrick Marber but without knowing the original text I couldn't pinpoint where these updates occurred.

This show has been eagerly anticipated as Joe Wright's first foray into theatre after beautifully visual interpretations of Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina.

And he does not disappoint, the set is thoughtfully designed (at one point the whole thing collapses in order to make a new space) the costumes are beautiful and the acting is overt but this is only in keeping with this subject material.

Ron Cook is superb as the stuffy old judge who instantly dislikes his grandson's new fiancé but has a sentimental about turn (and is two faced in more ways than one....).

Daniel Mays plays a suitably egoed thesp and Avonia Bunn his wife who steals all her scenes (she would make a fabulous Eliza Doolittle).

Special mention for me goes to the hot young talent Daniel Kaluuya who first caught my eye in Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror'. He is wonderful as a budding playwright and gets a thought-provoking last word of a show about the theatre and for the theatre.

Until April 13.

Tickets: 0844 8717624; donmarwarehouse.com