Manor at the National Theatre: a ‘breathtakingly inept’ satire

New ‘state-of-the-nation’ drama mystifies, bores and slowly enrages

Image from Manor
Manor at the National Theatre
(Image credit: Manuel Harlan)

“Some plays are so awful that they almost become enjoyable,” said Clive Davis in The Times. Others, like the National Theatre’s new “state-of-the-nation” drama Manor, merely mystify, bore and slowly enrage.

Moira Buffini is the writer of previous hits including Dinner, and the film The Dig, but her latest play (directed by her sister Fiona) is “breathtakingly inept” – a misfiring satire that “lurches from one improbable scene to another before sinking with all hands”.

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