REVIEW: The Mentor (in exactly 250 words)

Posted on 11 Aug 2017

The Mentor is a show that stands wholly upon the excellence of its script – written by Daniel Kehlmann – which I would happily sit and read outside of the theatre. In fact, the staging of this show doesn't add a great deal to the enjoyability of the raw script, which left me wondering whether the production would be more suited to smaller, regional theatres than the West End, where audiences (understandably) expect something that ticks all the boxes, including “the wow factor”.

This 90-minute production is gentle, amusing and very witty. If you're not worried about being blown away by a show, then you will find that there is something genuinely loveable about The Mentor. But, if you are expecting something big, you might be disappointed. In particular, the set used in The Mentor (although aesthetically pleasing) is not all that impressive. Without the great lighting used throughout the show, the visuals could easily fall flat.

F. Murray Abraham leads the cast of The Mentor along with Daniel Weyman, Naomi Frederick and Jonathan Cullen. All of the actors are strong and bring to script to life, although there aren't a huge amount of moments in which they get to shine, due to level nature of the play.

You can get good seats for The Mentor at around £35 – £50, which seems reasonable for a West End production. If you want to see Kehlmann's great script performed, you can catch the production at the Vaudeville Theatre until 26 August 2017.