The reviews are in for The Sea, Jonathan Munby’s revival of Edward Bond’s 1973 comedy at Theatre Royal Bath, with Jennifer Saunders as Mrs Rafi, the self-appointed first lady of an East Anglian seaside village in 1907. A young man drowns in a storm in the opening minutes, and the play goes on to swing between farce, class satire and long philosophical conversations on the beach. The critics agree on Saunders and on the storm that opens the evening, and most also enjoy her sparring partner Lucy Briers; where they divide is over Bond’s play itself, which some find richly rewarding and others find uneven once it turns contemplative.
4.1 / 5 from 8 criticsThe verdict: eleven reviews in so far. Plays International and All That Dazzles give it five stars; The Guardian, BroadwayWorld, StageTalk, Theatre and Tonic and The Stage give it four; WhatsOnStage gives it three. Bath Voice publishes no rating, and the notices in The Times and The Telegraph sit behind paywalls. Across the eight ratings the average is 4.1 out of 5. Every one of them is won over by Jennifer Saunders; the reservations, from WhatsOnStage and Theatre and Tonic, are about Bond’s writing rather than Jonathan Munby’s production.
What are critics saying about The Sea?
Plays International
Reviewer: Simon Thomas
The most enthusiastic notice so far. Simon Thomas calls Saunders’s Mrs Rafi revelatory, funny because it is played completely straight, and rates the funeral-scene rivalry with Lucy Briers as a lesson in comic acting. He credits Munby with keeping the comedy from swamping Bond’s savagery and urges readers to catch the short Bath run.
"Jonathan Munby’s superb direction combines theatrical flamboyance with an intelligent exploration of Bond’s often elliptical meaning"
All That Dazzles
Reviewer: Justin Lowe
Justin Lowe calls Saunders phenomenal and picks out the hymn-singing duel at the ashes-scattering as his favourite scene. He is just as warm about Dominic Rowan’s paranoid Hatch and Lloyd Hutchinson’s Evens, and gives the sound, video and lighting team equal credit for keeping the sea present all evening.
"Jonathan Munby's production of The Sea is a fantastic piece of theatre"
The Guardian
"Jennifer Saunders takes fussing over buying curtains to Shakespearean levels"
Reviewer: Holly O'Mahony
Holly O’Mahony opens on the underwater prologue and Luke Halls’s video design, then notes that Bond saw consumerism as a distraction from the pain of life. She finds Saunders’s pomposity softening into mischief and reads the close as hopeful.
"Her character’s late speech on her disappointment in, but dependency on, others rivals Shakespeare’s Jaques in its melancholy wisdom."
BroadwayWorld
"The Absolutely Fabulous star appears at Theatre Royal Bath"
Reviewer: Cheryl Markosky
Cheryl Markosky places Saunders in a line of Mrs Rafis that runs from Coral Browne through Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins, and thinks she earns her place. She praises the whole ensemble, Dominic Rowan and Lucy Briers especially, while admitting that Bond’s shifts of tone can leave an audience baffled.
"it's puzzling at times but ultimately well worth the trip to the seaside."
StageTalk
Reviewer: Simon Bishop
Simon Bishop starts with the design team, whose set, light, sound and video give the play a cinematic sweep. He finds Bond’s mix of class comedy and existential musing surprising at every turn, and calls the Orpheus and Eurydice rehearsal a joy to watch.
"Director Jonathan Munby never puts a foot wrong."
Theatre and Tonic
"Jennifer Saunders finds humanity amid Bond's theatrical contradictions"
Reviewer: Ben
Ben comes away divided. He loves Saunders, Briers and Rowan and the haberdashery scene, but finds the quieter philosophical passages laboured and the switches of register abrupt. Mrs Rafi’s late soliloquy on ageing and loneliness wins him back.
"At its best, The Sea is richly entertaining, intelligent and unexpectedly moving."
WhatsOnStage
"Jonathan Munby’s revival of the Edward Bond dark comedy runs until 7 November"
Reviewer: Kris Hallett
The coolest notice. Kris Hallett admires the opening storm, Saunders’s precision and Holly Godliman’s Rose, and finds Rowan’s Hatch more sad than menacing. His problem is the play: the long beach dialogues between Evens and Willy lose him, and he never feels the whole cohere.
"Munby’s production confirms the play’s intelligence and importance, even if it stops short of proving its greatness."
Bath Voice
"Jennifer Saunders makes waves in The Sea at Theatre Royal Bath"
Reviewer: Gianina Turner
The local paper finds Saunders wonderfully funny and enjoys the contrast between the village’s absurd comedy and the grief running beneath it. Gianina Turner also singles out Richard Howell’s lighting, Max Pappenheim’s sound and Grant Olding’s music.
"it is an entertaining and visually striking evening at Theatre Royal Bath."
Also reviewed by: The Stage (Neil Norman, four stars, "Spinning off into arias of absurdity"), The Times (Dominic Maxwell, "Jennifer Saunders is a joy in this unusual comedy") and The Telegraph (Dominic Cavendish, "Jennifer Saunders proves she is the grande dame of British theatre"), whose reviews sit behind paywalls.
For more critics’ verdicts, see our roundups of Speculations at the Marylebone Theatre and The Bridge at the Bush Theatre.
The Sea plays at Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday 7 November.
For more information, visit the official website.
