Review – The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder

Andrew’s a sucker for triangles. Or to be exact Triangle – the fabulously misconceived soap opera set on board a North Sea ferry from the olden days of when Andrew would condescend to dip his grimy toe into the choppy waters of TV.

So when he spotted that Triangle‘s Larry Lamb (whose National Theatre CV mentions only recent telly – thus precluding Triangle – is he ashamed of it?) was to star at the National Theatre in Matt Charman’s new play The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder, Phil was left with no alternative but to accompany him.

And do you know what? It turned out to be one of the Whingers’ most enjoyable evenings out for a long while.

They were in and out of the Cottesloe in a record 45 minutes.

It’s true that the play rumbled on for a further 1 hour and 55 minutes without them, but the Whingers were by this time frolicking in the fountains outside the Royal Festival Hall beneath a lovely summer evening sky and drinking cheap red wine.

Coming soon – Orlando Bloom

Andrew got terribly excited when he found out there would be a revival of David Storey’s play In Celebration. As a Storey virgin he felt it was time he dipped his toe into fresh waters. Storey’s plays are described as having “long descriptive passages detailing many items that appear at least superficially to play no role in furthering the plot”. Andrew claimed he was completely sold on the idea and dispatched Phil to the Duke of York’s Theatre to book before the stampede.

Of course Phil didn’t fall for Andrew’s enthusiasm for a minute. Could Andrew have been seduced by the West End debut of Hollywood heart-throb Orlando Bloom? Despite Andrew’s protestations Phil remained deeply suspicious.