'“Any play about a real person should be a pack of lies,” announces Tamsin Greig as the legendary theatrical agent Peggy Ramsay in this rewarding revival of Alan Plater’s play. “It’s the only way to get near the truth.”

The audience is well up on the ironies being plied in a show, first seen here starring Maureen Lipman in 1999, that ends Hampstead’s season of revivals of some its landmark productions. Indeed, as Greig dishes out Ramsay’s droll but insistent wisdom in her London office in the late 1960s, you might be forgiven for thinking that, never mind the uncaricatured wonders of Greig’s force-of-nature star turn, this is one for the cognoscenti...'

'Sure enough the first half in Richard Wilson's artful revival has bons mots by the bucketful'

'Peggy for You ends up resonant as well as amusing'

To read the full review visit The Times online here.

'There are laughs to be had as Richard Wilson directs Alan Plater's workmanlike comedy about the great theatre agent Peggy Ramsay'

'There, in the funny, biting opening vignette of Alan Plater’s Peggy For You, lies enshrined the open all hours and suffer no fools approach of Ramsay at her eccentric and industrious height'

'A hit for Hampstead in 1999, with Maureen Lipman in the title role, and Tamsin Greig now doing the honours in a fresh revival, Plater’s play asserts a simple truth about its subject. She barely cared about conventional success, put Art on a pedestal.'

'Ramsay could say vicious things sweetly, and vice versa. Greig is very good at focused intensity and a chilliness that becomes palpable in the off-hand (drawn from real-life) reaction to the death of an older, alcoholic client'

'Take a bow, not least, director Richard “One Foot in the Grave” Wilson: 85 and defying Omicron by joining the throng on opening night. Ramsay would surely have delighted at such spirit.'

 

To read the full review visit The Telegraph online here.

'They say lightning never strikes twice, but it feels as though it has up at Hampstead Theatre where Maureen Lipman gave a career highlight performance as formidable literary agent Peggy Ramsay (1908 to 1991) in the original 1999 production of Alan Plater's richly enjoyable comedy, and now Tamsin Greig is equally magnificent, albeit intriguingly different, in the same role in Richard Wilson's pitch perfect revival.'

'Both interpretations serve Plater's engrossing script equally well. First discovered asleep fully dressed on a script-festooned chaise longue as early morning light creeps into her office (James Cotterill's marvellously detailed set is almost a character in itself) after spending a night at the police station bailing out a client, she is eccentric but magnetic: Plater has created a fabulous role. Where Lipman led with abrasive energy shading later into fractious vulnerability, Greig comes at Ramsay from the opposite direction, projecting an almost child-like delight at her power within the industry, specifically over the careers of men, and a genuine love for words and writers.' 

'Greig's Peggy is flirtatious with Josh Finan's fledgling playwright and has a flinty camaraderie with her comparatively down-to-earth secretary (Danusia Samual, excellent).'

'a superb Trevor Fox'

'Writing this witty and generous never really goes out of fashion. Already a much beloved actress, and surely only a BAFTA or two away from full National Treasure status, Tamsin Greig proves once again what a tremendous stage performer she is, a brilliant technician with truth, precision and killer comic timing. We may be within staggering distance of 2022, but this is one of the performances of the year.'

To read the full review visit WhatsOnStage online here.