The Fugitive Kind by Tennessee Williams - Rehearsed Reading

Pete - Christian Contreras
Jabe - Nigel Cooke
Carl/Drake - Garry Cooper
Glory Gwendlebaum - Claire Foy
Texas - Nigel Harman
Gwendlebaum - Nicky Henson
Terry - Rory Keenan
Sylvia/Stage Directions - Lauren O'Neil
Chuck - Con O'Neill
Rocky - Robert Rees
Leo - Stark Sands
Abel/O'Connor - Paul Shelley
Mrs Finchwell/Bertha - Sara Stewart
Olsen - Benny Young

Directed by Róisín McBrinn

Seen as part of the Tennessee Williams season at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden.

Spotted in the audience: Jeremy Herrin (but did he come to see Anton, Tom and Felicity the night before?)

Marks & Spencer let me down with their lack of toweling robes to dry myself on from the persistent torrential rain tonight but it soon evaporated.

This was a gorgeous lump of a play and produced here with levity and sensuousness at a level way beyond a rehearsed reading status.

Claire Foy is like a luminous liquid flowing around the stage and the rapport between Messers Harman and O'Neill was a joy to behold. Probably the most exciting part of the evening (and there were many of them) was my introduction to the work of a couple of young fellas I had not witnessed before. Rory Keenan is accomplished in his homeland and his comfort and confidence made him very relaxing to watch. There was another young man just starting out who will be charming casting directors all over town very soon, I'm sure. He was very nervous but he did the job and looked very cute.

The scenes between Claire and Rory seemed much more sexually charged because the actors rarely stood very near each other and had their playtexts on lecterns in front of them. It was all in the delivery and it had me dribbling.

Blissful evening