Mrs Klein, Almeida Theatre

Get off the couch and see Clare Higgins's Melanie Klein

by Matt WolfSunday, 01 November 2009

Eine Klein(e) nachtmusik: Clare Higgins in her third stand-out stage performance this yearJohn Haynes

Don't be put off by the deliberately dim interior that first greets you at Mrs Klein, the Nicholas Wright play that has been scorchingly revived at the Almeida Theatre by the director Thea Sharrock and a cast including Clare Higgins in her third stand-out performance on the London stage this year. Those who feel as if they've had enough theatrical psychiatry-speak from the Almeida courtesy of that venue's recent revival of Duet For One, think again: a play that can emerge (and has) as too portentous by half reappears with a wry spring in its step and an emotional sting that is sure to land, whether or not you have spent time on the proverbial couch.

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