The reviews are in for Middlemarch Parts 1 & 2, Nina Raine’s two-part adaptation of George Eliot’s novel for the Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by Jeremy Herrin at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Close to six hours across the two plays, it follows Dorothea Brooke and Dr Lydgate through two disastrous marriages in a Midlands town around 1830. Raine’s boldest idea, putting Eliot herself on stage in the person of Amanda Root, is the one that divides the critics: most think it the making of the adaptation, The Telegraph thinks it the fatal flaw. Almost all of them agree on Nia Towle’s Dorothea, and several find that Part Two is where the evening takes flight.
4.1 / 5 from 9 criticsThe verdict: fourteen reviews in so far. StageTalk and Theatre and Tonic give it five stars; The Guardian, The Independent, WhatsOnStage, BroadwayWorld, the Morning Star and The Stage give it four; West End Best Friend gives it three. The Observer, British Theatre Guide and The Real Chrisparkle publish no rating, and The Times and The Telegraph sit behind paywalls. Across the nine ratings the average is 4.1 out of 5. The praise for Nia Towle and Amanda Root is close to unanimous; the argument is over whether Eliot-as-narrator is a stroke of genius or a device that gets in the way.
What are critics saying about Middlemarch?
StageTalk
Reviewer: Ros Carne
Ros Carne thinks Nia Towle perfectly cast as Dorothea and admires Ian Drysdale’s Casaubon and Rory Alexander’s Ladislaw. She enjoys the crowd scenes that draw the audience into the auction and the hustings, and calls the whole an ambitious demonstration of what theatre can do.
"The two parts make for a long sit, but it never feels long."
Theatre and Tonic
Reviewer: Mia
Mia finds the adaptation engaging, funny and moving despite its length, with not a weak link in the cast. She singles out Towle, Lizzie Annis’s Celia and Emma McDonald’s Rosamond, and admires Grace Smart’s trapdoor scene changes. Her one reservation is a slower third act.
"A stunning production that shows how classics can be revived and retold without losing the essence of the original."
The Guardian
"World’s Greatest Novel hurtles from deathbed panto to jolting marital tragedy"
Reviewer: Arifa Akbar
Arifa Akbar finds Part One a handsome costume drama that rushes its characters and tips into broad comedy, and thinks the on-stage Eliot more device than discovery. Then Part Two transforms it: the humour lands, the marriages hurt, and the Lydgate-Rosamond story becomes heartbreaking.
"Part Two finds its footing and doesn’t take one wrong step"
The Independent
"George Eliot’s Middlemarch is an 800-page doorstop. Can the RSC put it on stage?"
Reviewer: Georgina Brown
Georgina Brown calls Raine’s decision to make Eliot a character her boldest and most brilliant move, with Amanda Root witty and compassionate in the part, and finds Towle’s Dorothea exceptional. She misses the full depth of Dorothea’s despair but has no doubt about the whole.
"But it is nevertheless an awesome achievement, well worth seeing."
WhatsOnStage
"The two-part drama, based on George Eliot’s novel and adapted for the stage by Nina Raine, is directed by Jeremy Herrin"
Reviewer: Sarah Crompton
Sarah Crompton calls the adaptation deftly clever and the Eliot character its stroke of genius. She notes a few awkward moments but praises John Hodgkinson, Peter Forbes and an astonishing Emma McDonald, and saves her highest praise for Towle.
"Holding the still centre as Dorothea, Nia Towle is simply, sensationally heartbreaking"
BroadwayWorld
"George Eliot’s classic novel is brought to the stage by the RSC"
Reviewer: Debbie Gilpin
Debbie Gilpin finds the scripts admirably clear and Eliot an excellent guide, though she is less sure about Root doubling as Mrs Cadwallader. She praises Gunnar Cauthery, Hodgkinson and Towle, and suggests seeing the two parts on consecutive evenings.
"This vivid and emotional adaptation is definitely a theatrical highlight of the year so far"
Morning Star
"Justice done to Middlemarch"
Reviewer: Gordon Parsons
Gordon Parsons thinks the RSC can relax: the adaptation manages the novel’s scale without losing coherence, and Root is a commanding Eliot. He finds Part One slow to start and suggests that anyone seeing only one half should choose Part Two.
"Nina Raine’s adaptation and Jeremy Herrin’s direction have skilfully managed the inevitable problems of novel dramatisations"
West End Best Friend
Reviewer: Nick Wayne
Nick Wayne has no complaint about the acting or the direction, and enjoys the scenes that cast the audience as bidders and electors. But he finds the evening too gentle to justify the journey, and thinks the vaulted canopy over the stage an extravagance.
"This is a worthy literary exercise, a faultlessly delivered production from an acting and direction point of view"
The Observer
"Middlemarch – a heart-centred staging captures the theatrical world of George Eliot"
Reviewer: Susannah Clapp
Susannah Clapp is surprised by how quickly the audience is laughing at Eliot’s own wit, and praises Towle and Root. She finds the Lydgate-Rosamond marriage more unevenly acted and the lighting sometimes too churchy, but calls it a feat of adaptation and direction.
"In her boldest stroke, Raine recognises that the real drama of Middlemarch is George Eliot arguing with her multiply inflected self."
British Theatre Guide
Reviewer: Colin Davison
Colin Davison calls bringing the novel to the stage at all a mammoth undertaking and the result little short of miraculous. He was gripped for nearly six hours, finds the closing moments a little anticlimactic, and rates every member of the cast first class.
"They have condensed and reshaped a literary treasure to produce a theatrical marvel on an epic scale."
The Real Chrisparkle
Reviewer: Chrisparkle
Seeing both parts on one day, Chrisparkle found Part One dramatically thin and largely expository, but says everything pays off in Part Two. He praises Root, a mesmerising Towle and a cast without a weak link.
"once this dramatisation fully gets going there’s no stopping it."
Also reviewed by: The Stage (four stars, "Costume drama in the truest sense"), The Times (Clive Davis, "Nina Raine searches for the spirit of George Eliot") and The Telegraph (Dominic Cavendish, "The RSC’s Middlemarch marathon has one fatal flaw: George Eliot"), whose reviews sit behind paywalls.
For a first look at the production, see the first production photos from Middlemarch, and for more critics’ verdicts our roundups of Speculations and The Bridge.
Middlemarch Parts 1 & 2 plays at the RSC’s Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon until 16 January 2027.
For more information, visit the official website.
