60 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1SB, UK

The Graduate | Curve Theatre.

Photo Credit : Manuel Harlan
Curve are known for producing their in house productions and the newest to add to their list is their take on the 1967 film and 1963 novel, The Graduate. In partnership with West Yorkshire Playhouse and acclaimed directed Lucy Bailey they tell the story of a young guy, who has just completed college and is now trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life and with the pressure of this parents setting the expectations of their son's career. What happens next is an unexpected diversion comes up when he is seduced by friend of his parents and bored housewife, Mrs Robinson (Catherine McCormack)

It becomes complicated when Mr Robinson says that Benjamin should meet his daughter Elaine. However, he ends up falling for Elaine and it's the one person that Mrs Robinson demands he stays away from. It all becomes slightly heated and with a drunken heart to heart between mother and daughter Elaine is convinced by her mother that he shouldn't be the person that she marries. Benjamin however isn't convinced by this revelation and fights to get Elaine's hand in marriage.

Photo Credit : Manuel Harlan

Photo Credit : Manuel Harlan
Having never seen The Graduate before watching the play production I wasn't sure what to expect and whether it'd be something I could draw attention to. The casting was great, including a Hollywood actress leading them in Catherine McCormack. Young casting in Elaine (Emma Curtis) and Benjamin (Jack Monaghan) showed that they had just what it takes to develop their acting career giving a promising performance as young two lovers. 

The lighting and set design was authentic, beautiful and really set the scene through the various moments in the play, ensuring that all focus was wherever it needed to be. There was however times when the more silent parts of the play were interrupted by the sounds of the backstage crew organising themselves to transition the scenes. The play was very easy to pick up with some great snippets of humour thrown in that made it for more pleasant viewing. I thought that the initial first half of the play was fairly long and quite demanding to hold the audience's engagement in the piece, however the second half flowed a lot better for me. 

I'm not going to lie but it wasn't the most enjoyable piece that I had watched at Curve, probably down to individual tastes and I'd be interested in knowing what the transition was like between the stage and screen when watching this. I think this would be for a particular taste of people who have previously seen the film and know what to expect. 

I would however attend this performance to see the excellent cast bring to life an iconic film to life on stage as Curve do not disappoint in their ability to create new productions.


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