Review: STUMPED, Original Theatre Online
Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
Original Theatre’s latest online production Stumped tells the story of Samuel Beckett (Stephen Tompkinson) and Harold Pinter (Andrew Lancel).
Filmed at Lord’s Cricket Ground, it celebrates two theatre greats and their love of cricket, and explores what their friendship may have looked like.
Before Beckett penned some of his most famous work, he was a cricketer and is today still the only Nobel prize winner to feature in the pages of Wisden as a first-class cricket player and Pinter described cricket as, ‘the greatest thing that God created on Earth’. So it seems only natural to pair these two literary giants together in their second love of cricket and give an insight in to their probable relationship.
Written by Shomit Dutta and directed by Guy Unsworth, Tompkinson and Lancel have a good rapport and the dialogue between them has a natural camaraderie. From their sportsmanship to their drunken antics, it’s a believable scenario of a hidden side to the famous pair’s personalities.
The play takes place in a single location with an uncomplicated set design by David Woodhead, which is effective in not taking the focus away from the performance, but clever enough to show some nice unexpected additions.
As an audience, you don’t need a particular love or understanding of either cricket or drama, it’s entertaining as a neutral piece of storytelling. Easy to watch, lightly told and an amusing and insightful portrayal of a nostalgic friendship.
Charming yet darkly humorous, it’s sure to have a good innings!
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin
Stumped is available online now until 27 September 2023 here.