Let me tell you a secret, gentle reader: I’ve never seen an episode of Sex and the City. Nor The First Wives Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or any of the shows that the programme credits to Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. I tell a lie: we did see the film of Manchester By The Sea, in which Mr Broderick took a relatively minor role. We hated it. We were also probably the only people in the Thursday matinee at the Savoy who knew nothing about its two stars. That’s not to say I hadn’t heard of them – of course I had. We don’t live in a vacuum. And I knew that their presence would cause a frisson of excitement among the West End ticket bookers.

However, believe it or not, my prime motivation for going was to see Plaza Suite on stage. The original Neil Simon play ran for over a thousand performances on Broadway and spawned the successful film adaptation starring Walter Matthau. As one of the Dowager Mrs Chrisparkle’s favourite films, I was brought up with the curmudgeonly Mr Matthau losing his rag with his daughter Mimsey, and I was very keen to see how the original stage show worked.

It’s a three act play with a difference; the only connection between the acts is that they all take place in Suite 719 in New York’s famous Plaza Hotel. Act One, Visitor From Mamaroneck, tells the tale of the crumbling marriage of Sam and Karen Nash; the longest of the three acts, it sets an unavoidably downbeat tone despite its savage comedy, due to the genuine sadness of the material. Act Two, Visitor from Hollywood, sees the reunion of teenage sweethearts Jesse Kiplinger (now a superstar movie director) and Muriel Tate (a dissatisfied housewife and mother of three). Act Three, Visitor from Forest Hills, takes place on the (very expensive) wedding day of Roy and Norma Hubley’s daughter Mimsey to Borden Eisler, and the farcical exploits that ensue when last minute nerves cause her to lock herself in the bathroom. As with the film, the first two playlets really serve as warm-up acts for the main event of the final scene. But there are few comic playwrights in the 20^th century who were as gifted as Neil Simon, and you can tell his mastery of his art throughout the whole show.

Of course, the three couples at the centre of each of the acts are the driving force behind each story, along with a few peripheral characters. But the main other character of the show is the Plaza hotel itself, brought beautifully to life in John Lee Beatty’s elegant set. It’s the kind of traditional hotel suite that you always hope you’ll get when you check in to a hotel but never do. Exquisite taste, luxury fabrics and fittings – exactly what you’d expect from the Plaza – and indeed the Savoy.

So, what of the megastar couple who are commanding such full audiences and such high ticket prices? Sarah Jessica Parker gives great performances throughout. Immensely watchable, she tugs on your heartstrings in the first play where she is so completely maltreated by her b**tard of a husband – to the extent that there were frequent gasps of amazement and shock throughout the audience by Sex and the City fans disgusted that anyone could treat their heroine this way. There’s a lot more comedy for her to get her teeth into in acts two and three, and she gets the balance right between going for the big laughs whilst still showing us her characters’ vulnerabilities.

Matthew Broderick, however, presents us with a very different stage presence. Whereas Ms Parker is chock-full of charisma in all her roles, Mr Broderick feels less comfortable. Whether or not he was feeling a little under the weather I don’t know – he had to suppress a few coughs throughout the show – but he seemed especially tentative in Act One. To be fair, the character of Sam Nash doesn’t exude much in the way of star quality, being a stock kind of businessman who appears to be a slave to his work with no joy in his life. But I was surprised at how little spark was there. He was much more at home in Act Two, as the Austin Powers lookalike Jesse Kiplinger, doing his best to seduce Muriel, and engaging in some hilarious, but never explained, physical comedy of slipping and sliding in his Gucci shoes; and in Act Three as the exasperated husband and father enduring all kinds of humiliations in an attempt to coerce his daughter out of the john.

It’s a very entertaining production though, and if you want to see Ms Parker and Mr Broderick in the flesh, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. The run has already been extended by two weeks and continues at the Savoy until 13^th April.

Four They’re Jolly Good Fellows!

P. S.  So what about those high ticket prices then? £395 for the top price – although, as a package deal, that does include champagne and whatnot. I bought our tickets the day they went on sale – Row J of the Stalls for £125 each. Great seats and a superb view. Buy those seats today and they’ll probably cost £200 each. That’s a £150 saving per couple on planning your theatre trips in advance.