Last night we went to the Duke of York theatre in the West End to see Zach Braffs play All New People.
The play is written and starring the
Scrubs star and has a limited run in London.
It’s a play about four people whose circumstances bring them together. It’s a single set, single scene piece with no intermission (it’s not long at 90 minutes).
The reviews haw been either very good or very bad and I can see why.
The play is interesting and uses a good mix of media to tell the stories of the four characters and there are places we’re you really laugh out loud.
Sadly this isn’t enough to keep the momentum going and the play stumbles in sections. There are points where you wonder if the play should simply have been a 30 minute TV play as it does tend to be over before it’s begun. It feels like they made it longer to accommodate the audience.
The cast are very good and the inclusion of the woman from Torchwood is interesting as she has a complex character to play and pulls it off.
Braff seems to have stereotypes himself into the role of Jewish bumbling male but let’s face it that’s what he was good at in Scrubs.
It’s a fun play and has some interesting twists but it could have tried a little harder. The theatre was packed but I guess that was all the women who wanted to see Braff (who does stage door appearances after every performance!).
Not bad. Could try harder. 7/10
Keith Tomlinson Photography 