VISITING MR GREEN   TRAFALGAR STUDIOS

It is a real pleasure watching the great Warren Mitchell in a rare stage appearance in Jeff Baron’s highly successful but old fashioned play. He plays Mr Green, an 86-year-old New York Jewish widower, who lives alone in a Manhattan apartment. Ross Gardiner (Gideon Turner), a much younger business man is assigned to visit Mr Green once a week as part of his community service having nearly run him down with his car. So every Thursday the reluctant Mr Green unwillingly allows Ross to visit him and interfere with his lonesome existence. Mr Green starts to accept his visitor when he learns that he is also Jewish but he quickly dismisses him when Ross announces that he is gay. It is a simple premise where Baron takes his time in establishing the situation and in carefully building up his characters. Predictably the two men create a bond by the end of the play after having endless discussions about marriage, the holocaust and burning issues about homosexuality. Baron is an eloquent writer but his play doesn’t say anything new – we have heard these arguments many times before. Surprisingly his play has been a worldwide success and it has been translated in over 22 languages including Greek and Turkish. Patrick Garland’s efficient production is let down by an average design by Sean Cavanagh. His set is simple but not very realistic consisting of three doors in the background - one leading to the bedroom, the bathroom and the front entrance. The main acting area is the spare sitting room which is full with magazines and unopened letters scattered on the floor. But it is the power of the performances that make this production worth seeing. Mitchell is on top form as the sour Mr Green who learns a lesson or two from his young visitor and Turner is also impressive as the uptight man who grows in stature as the play develops.

(Plays until the 10th of May. Box office 0870 060 6632)