Spur of the Moment, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs | reviews, news & interviews
Spur of the Moment, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs
Spur of the Moment, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/mast_image_landscape/public/mastimages/002e8e491b09a55f1bac8b9f7f969c26.jpg?itok=NtiGMfPy)
Girls just wanna have fun: Shannon Tarbet (second from right) in a scorching stage debutKeith Pattison
"She's just a kid," or so runs the mantra that weaves its way through Spur of the Moment, the Royal Court premiere from newcomer Anya Reiss, who was "just a kid" - well, 17 - when she wrote the play. How, then, to explain an exceedingly sharp, smart piece that will invite comparison with another recent Court find, Polly Stenham, who was a comparative "oldie" by the time she pitched up at Sloane Square? As ever, it's nigh impossible to calibrate talent with numbers of years old, beyond pointing out that Reiss possesses the former in abundance even if she is self-evidently lacking in the latter. As the great Tom Lehrer once remarked, riffing on this very topic: "When Mozart was my age, he'd been dead five years." If this play and the director Jeremy Herrin's customarily expert treatment of it are any indication, Reiss has a long and happy playwriting career ahead.
"She's just a kid," or so runs the mantra that weaves its way through Spur of the Moment, the Royal Court premiere from newcomer Anya Reiss, who was "just a kid" - well, 17 - when she wrote the play. How, then, to explain an exceedingly sharp, smart piece that will invite comparison with another recent Court find, Polly Stenham, who was a comparative "oldie" by the time she pitched up at Sloane Square? As ever, it's nigh impossible to calibrate talent with numbers of years old, beyond pointing out that Reiss possesses the former in abundance even if she is self-evidently lacking in the latter. As the great Tom Lehrer once remarked, riffing on this very topic: "When Mozart was my age, he'd been dead five years." If this play and the director Jeremy Herrin's customarily expert treatment of it are any indication, Reiss has a long and happy playwriting career ahead.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more
![Jake Gyllenhaal as Rusty Sabich, Renate Reinsve as Carolyn Polhemus](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Gyllenhaal%20MAIN.jpg?itok=vCiRaH_i)
![Primrose path: Artists of the Royal Ballet in 'Les Rendezvous', Frederick Ashton's first significant ballet, made in 1933](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Artists%20of%20The%20Royal%20Ballet%20in%20Les%20Rendezvous%2C%20The%20Royal%20Ballet%20%C2%A92024%20Tristram%20Kenton.jpg?itok=RdfXoFMz)
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Trittico%201_0.jpg?itok=TC84p4VF)
![Horn player Ben Goldscheider](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Goldscheider.jpeg?itok=AuRRAY-6)
![Darkness falls: Paul (Nicolas Cage) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkin) pray for dawn](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/ARCADIAN%20running.jpg?itok=w-NTUAAH)
![Grow up: Anthony Hopkins as Sigmund Freud](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/FreudLShopkins.jpg?itok=t4rcjlXd)
![Margo Guryan: she saw herself as a songwriter, a figure with no public profile](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Margo%20Guryan%20Words%20and%20Music_header_1000.jpg?itok=CobbX4dG)
![Shifting colours in mother of pearl: the Collegium Vocale Gent](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/CVG-choir-2-by-Eric-de-Mildt-2022-scaled.jpg?itok=mYvIRcPw)
!['She finds a connection to the old religion of her island'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/03_SORCERY%201125.jpg?itok=NnXxvUhZ)
![A distinctly British habitat: David Edward-Robertson in 'The Moor'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Moor1.jpg?itok=mzl4xVH5)
![John Moreland’s Visitor: Haunting, haunted, hard to get your head around, let alone the heart](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/John%20Moreland%20-%20Visitor.jpg?itok=XcFs5ccZ)
![The Smashing Pumpkins, dressed to impress for a night with Weezer](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Pumpkins.jpeg?itok=izbirGsc)
Add comment