Hampstead theatre, London
Alan Plater’s 60s-set play honouring agent Peggy Ramsay hasn’t aged well – her once maverick ideas now look outmoded
Henry Livings felt that “all plays about writers should be burned, with the exception of Present Laughter.” So Alan Plater says in the prelude of this play, all about the life of writers, which premiered at the Hampstead theatre in 1999. Despite Plater’s knowing irony, Livings’ words haunt this revival and fatally prove his point.
Peggy Ramsay, the legendary play agent who represented everyone from Joe Orton to Edward Bond and Plater himself, is its central, indomitable force. Tamsin Greig, as Peggy, plays her as a posh, flouncing and vaguely rakish woman with a witty intelligence. But even Greig’s charisma cannot save this play from its dated ideas and sleepy drama.
Peggy for You is at Hampstead theatre, London, until 29 January.
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