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Review of the Year 2025 – The Fifteenth Annual Chrisparkle Awards

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Greetings again, gentle reader, to the glamorous showbiz highlight of the year, the announcement of the annual Chrisparkle Awards for 2025. Slightly fewer shows seen this year – 230, twenty-four down on last year’s 254 productions; I hope that’s not a sign that I’m slowing down! Eligibility for the awards means a) they were performed in the UK and b) I have to have seen the shows and reviewed them in the period 5th January 2025 to 4th January 2026. Are you all sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin!

 

The first award is for Best Dance Production (Contemporary and Classical)

This includes dance seen at the Edinburgh Fringe, which is just as well, as I only saw two dance productions this year, and they are:

In 2nd place, Matthew Bourne’s charming but undemanding The Midnight Bell, at the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton, in July.

In 1st place, Saeed Hani’s challenging and emotional Inlet, performed by Hani Dance at Dance Base, Edinburgh, in August.

 

Classical Music Concert of the Year.

Again we only saw two classical concerts this year, both by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal and Derngate in Northampton. The award for the best goes to their Valentine’s Day Gala in February.

 

Best Entertainment Show of the Year.

This means anything that doesn’t fall into any other categories – for example pantos, circuses, revues and anything else hard to classify. Here are the top three:

In 3rd place, our local pantomime, The All New Adventures of Peter Pan at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, in December.

In 2nd place, the spectacular extravaganza that is Sleeping Beauty at the London Palladium in December.

In 1st place, the home of great panto, Aladdin at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, in January 2026.

 

Best Star Standup of the Year.

Only four eligible shows this year, so here are the top three performances by Star Standups in 2025:

In 3rd place, Eshaan Akbar in his I Can’t Get No Satisfakshaan show at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton in February.

In 2nd place, Kae Kurd in his What’s O’Kurd show at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton in October.

In 1st place, Dara O’Briain in his Re: Creation show at the Corn Exchange, Bedford in April.

 

Best Comedy Crate/Screaming Blue Murder Standup of the Year

It just so happens that all the top five were from Comedy Crate shows!

In 5th place, Jordan Gray (at the Charles Bradlaugh in February)

In 4th place, Charlie Baker (Edinburgh Preview Weekender in July)

In 3rd place, Hal Cruttenden (at the Charles Bradlaugh in January and at the Edinburgh Preview Weekender in July)

In 2nd place, Mike Rice (at the Charles Bradlaugh in May)

In 1st place, Thor Stenhaug (Edinburgh Preview Weekender in July)

 

Best Musical

I only saw nine musicals this year, and here’s the top five:

In 5th place, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in May.

In 4th place, The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

In 3rd place, the post-West End touring production of Dear Evan Hansen at Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton, in January.

In 2nd place, a curiosity-driven revisit to see Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 1st place, Evita, at the London Palladium, in July.

 

Best New Play

Just to clarify, this is my definition of a new play, which is something that’s new to me and to most of its audience – so it might have been around before but on its first UK tour, or a new adaptation of a work originally in another format. We saw seventeen new plays this year, and I awarded five stars to five of them; it therefore follows that they are the top five!

In 5th place, Mischief Theatre’s The Comedy About Spies, at the Noel Coward Theatre, London, in May.

In 4th place, Tom Wells’ adaptation for the RSC of Roald Dahl’s The BFG, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in December.

In 3rd place, Karim Khan’s inventive and insightful Before the Millennium, at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, in December.

In 2nd place, James Ijames’ delightful reworking of Hamlet, Fat Ham for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in August.

In 1st place, James Graham’s outstanding Punch at the Young Vic, London, in April.

 

Best Revival of a Play

I saw twenty-four revivals, with six receiving five stars from me; here are the top five:

In 5th place, the RSC’s two-part production of Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga, adapted by Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in December.

In 4th place, the RSC’s brave and thrilling production of Marlowe’s Edward II, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in March.

In 3rd place, Ivo van Hove’s riveting production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, at Wyndham’s Theatre, London, in December.

In 2nd place, the RSC’s superbly imaginative production of Hamlet, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in February.

In 1st place, James Graham’s extraordinary exploration of England – both the team and the country – in Dear England, for the National Theatre at the Olivier Theatre, London, in April.

 

As always, in the post-Christmas season, it’s time to consider the turkey of the year – and it’s a toss-up between the six productions to whom I only gave two stars; but the one I feel failed to deliver when it had the most potential to succeed was Unicorn at the Garrick Theatre, London, in March.

Now we come on to our four categories specifically for the Edinburgh Fringe. The first is:

 

Best play or musical – Edinburgh

We saw 106 productions of plays and musicals in Edinburgh this year, 18 of them got 5* from me, and here are the top 5:

In 5th place, Louisa Marshall’s savage and innovative exploration of weaponised incompetence, Clean Slate (Summerhall)

In 4th place, Dylan Kaueper and Will Grice’s wickedly inventive examination of childhood friendship, Cody and Beau (The Space on the Mile)

In 3rd place, Tony Norman’s beautiful musical about the Van Gogh brothers, Vagabond Skies (Gilded Balloon at the Museum)

In 2nd place, Priyanka Shetty’s shattering reconstruction of the rise of the Alt Right, #CHARLOTTESVILLE (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 1st place, creating satire where you might think it’s beyond satire, Miss Brexit (Underbelly Bristo Square)

 

Best Individual Performance in a Play or Musical – Edinburgh

As always, an impossible choice, and it’s as close as close can be. Nevertheless, here are the top five (and yes I am cheating for 5th place):

In 5th place, Dylan Kaueper and Will Grice for Cody and Beau (The Space on the Mile)

In 4th place, Priyanka Shetty for #CHARLOTTESVILLE (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 3rd place, Louisa Marshall for Clean Slate (Summerhall)

In 2nd place, Quaz Degraft for In The Black (The Space at Surgeons’ Hall)

In 1st place, Christoffer Hvidberg Ronje for The Insider (Pleasance Dome)

 

Best Comedy Performance – Edinburgh

We saw forty-one comedy shows this year, of which eight received 5* from me, and here are my top five:

In 5th place, Matt Forde: Defying Calamity (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 4th place, Sam Lake: You’re Joking, Not Another One! (Monkey Barrel at the Tron)

In 3rd place, Robin Grainger: People Pleaser (The Stand Comedy Club 4)

In 2nd place, Tom Stade: Naughty by Nature (The Stand Comedy Club 1)

In 1st place, Casey Filips as the impossible Tobias Finlay-Fraser in Virtuoso (Assembly George Square)

 

Best of the rest – Edinburgh

From a shortlist of seven, here are my top five:

In 5th place, mixing a real live date with comedy improvisation, Looking for Laughs (Gilded Balloon Patter House)

In 4th place, the irrepressible Accordion Ryan with his Pop Bangers (Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower)

In 3rd place, Broadway’s Laura Benanti in Nobody Cares (Underbelly Bristo Square)

In 2nd place, Chase Brantley’s truly hilarious Don Toberman: Ping Pong Champ (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 1st place, a star is born: Arthur Hull’s FLOP: The Best Songs from the Worst Musicals Ever Written (Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower)

Three shows received a dreaded One Star review from me: and for me the Edinburgh turkey of the year was The Fiascoholics’ 4’s a Crowd, which contained just too much of everything it didn’t need.

 

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Musical

Time to get personal. Here’s the top five:

In 5th place, Alice Fearn as Heidi in Dear Evan Hansen at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton in January.

In 4th place, Lucie Jones as Fantine in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 3rd place, Sharon Rose as Garage Girl and Kate in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in May.

In 2nd place, Frances Mayli McCann as Daisy in The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

In 1st place, Rachel Zegler as Evita in Evita at the London Palladium in July.

 

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Musical

Here’s the top five:

In 5th place, Corbin Bleu as Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

In 4th place, Luke Kempner as Thenardier in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 3rd place, Ian McIntosh as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 2nd place, Diego Andres Rodriguez as Che in Evita at the London Palladium, in July.

In 1st place, Jamie Muscato as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

 

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Play

Nineteen in the longlist, and ten in the shortlist, and here’s the top five:

In 5th place, Freema Ageyman as Beatrice in the RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in April.

In 4th place, Gina McKee as Annie in The Years, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in April.

In 3rd place, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Kate in All My Sons, at Wyndham’s Theatre, London, in December.

In 2nd place, Beverley Knight as Rosetta in Marie and Rosetta, at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in July.

In 1st place, Tuppence Middleton as Annie in The Years, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in April.

 

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Play

Twenty-three in the longlist and nine in the shortlist, each of whom could easily deserve the award, However, here is the top five:

In 5th place, Daniel Evans as Edward II in the RSC’s Edward II, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in March.

In 4th place, Jonathan Bailey as Richard II in Richard II, at the Bridge Theatre, London, in February.

In 3rd place, Olise Odele as Juicy in the RSC’s Fat Ham, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in August.

In 2nd place, Joseph Millson as Soames in the RSC’s Forsyte Saga, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in December.

In 1st place, David Shields as Jacob in Punch, at the Young Vic, London, in April.

 

Congratulations to the winners – special mention this year for James Graham whose Punch and Dear England feature so highly – commiserations to the losers and thanks for your company again throughout the year, gentle reader. Here’s to another year full of artistic excellence!

Review – The Years, Harold Pinter Theatre, London, 12th April 2025

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It’s often useful to come to a theatrical production completely clueless about its content or history. That was pretty much my situation at Saturday’s matinee of The Years. I knew it had been a big success at the Almeida Theatre in 2024, I knew that it was one hour fifty-five minutes with no interval, and I knew that on some occasions they have to stop the show due to audience members’ reactions to a certain scene. But I’d never heard of Annie Ernaux, on whose book, Les Années, the play is based, nor of Eline Arbo, who adapted it and directs the production.

It’s an autobiographical account of Ms Ernaux’ life, with five actors playing her and the other people in her life. The actors are of varying ages and portray Ms Ernaux as a child, a teen/young adult, a young woman, a middle-aged woman and finally a more elderly woman (although the always incredible Deborah Findlay looks way too young to be “elderly”!) From the start, it’s an ensemble performance, with all five participating at all the stages of her life, describing photographs from the past that serve as launchpads for a scene from any particular era.

Eline Arbo’s direction is very strong on sheetography. A clean white sheet is unfolded as the backdrop for each photograph which will then be used as a tablecloth, or scrunched up to become a baby, or a garment, or a banner – the list is endless. It’s a very clever and successful device that allows our imaginations to work overtime, and all the sheets that have played a part in telling her story are hung up around the stage, like ghosts from a former time, emphasising how a person is the sum of all their experiences – and even their experiences to come. They really do get through a lot of sheets. Indeed, if there is one message that came most strongly forward to me from the production is that a person is made up of so many elements, many of which will contrast and contradict other aspects of their personality. As Walt Whitman said, I am large, I contain multitudes.

The play grows in power as it progresses; unsurprisingly, perhaps, as there’s only so much interest to be drawn from the behaviour and experiences of a child, whose prime interest appears to be following through on her early discoveries of the joys of masturbation. But as the woman gets older, has relationships, finds work and a place in the world, has an abortion – see first paragraph – then a marriage, children and develops the self-confidence and self-awareness to live her life as she sees fit, the story gets much more interesting. And whilst it is a serious play, there are some flashes of terrific humour, such as attending an overzealous exercise class, or participating in a very drunken and druggy party. There are also some surprising musical moments – I didn’t, for example, expect to find myself swaying in my seat to Desireless’ fantastic Voyage Voyage.

The performances are all superb, totally convincing with their portrayal of the gradually ageing central character, as well as all the people around her. Harmony Rose-Bremner is great as the impish young Annie; playful, mischievous, and grumpy when things don’t go her way. I also really enjoyed her performance as one of Annie’s sullen teenage sons. Anjli Mohindra takes Annie into her young adult years where she starts having to make decisions for herself and first encounters men. Tuppence Middleton is the twenty/thirty-something Annie, making the choice that now is the wrong time to have a baby and dealing with all that decision’s consequences. Gina McKee is brilliant as the middle-aged mother and divorcee, starting to find time for herself again; and Deborah Findlay pulls all the threads together as Annie looks forward to whatever time is left, managing her family as best she can and to the extent that they need it, whilst making sure her own needs remain of the prime importance.

It would be wrong not to go back to that abortion scene. It’s graphic and pulls no punches; red blood shows up strongly against a white sheet. It’s also honest and frank; there’s no attempt to dress it up politely because some things just can’t be dressed up. It’s a scene of huge dramatic intensity, performed immaculately by Tuppence Middleton. There are trigger warnings to read, and people may assume that won’t affect me, I’ll be alright; only to discover that some of us are not alright. There must have been at least six audience members throughout the auditorium who were so affected that they had to leave or, indeed, be attended to in their seats. A few minutes into the following scene, the stage manager had to come on stage and announce that the performance would be suspended whilst audience members were assisted.

I can’t stress how helpful an interval would have been. The impetus for keeping up the dramatic pressure by not having an interval needs to be weighed against the practical needs of the audience, and a scheduled break would allow people to settle, or at least for paramedics to do their work. Bizarrely, during the pause – which lasted about twenty minutes – the cast did not fully leave the stage but hovered in the wings, chatting; it seemed like a deliberate decision to do that, but whenever I’ve been in an audience where the performance has had to be paused because of a technical issue, the cast quietly go off and aren’t seen again until everything is ready to resume. Curious!

Not the Seven Ages of Man, but the Five Ages of Woman. It’s a subject that seems rarely to be addressed, and its impact is powerful. And whilst there are a few lulls in the storytelling, particularly in the first part of the play, the content builds to a very strong and memorable conclusion.

4-starsFour They’re Jolly Good Fellows!

Review – The Motive and the Cue, National Theatre at the Lyttelton, London, 24th May 2023

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One of my earliest memories as a student was seeing a photo of Richard Burton holding court in front of a room full of earnest and eager undergraduates, in the very same room where I was being grilled by my tutor, the late Francis Warner. He and Burton were buddies and I remember regretting that I wasn’t a couple of years older, in which case I would have been one of those keen undergrads hanging on to his every word, whilst Francis sat back basking in the reflected glow. So near, and yet so far.

I was reminded of that photo during the one of the last scenes in Jack Thorne’s new play The Motive and The Cue, where Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are holding a party for the cast of Hamlet, which he’s just about to open on Broadway, directed by Sir John Gielgud. Johnny Flynn’s Burton sits back in a big old armchair, crosses his legs and quietly manipulates all the conversation and merriment that he sees before him. If Mr Flynn hasn’t seen that photo of Burton giving a class at Oxford, then the similarity is not only uncanny, it’s miraculous.

But I’m getting ahead of myself as usual. Gielgud took on the task of directing Burton as Shakespeare’s Great Dane, and Thorne’s play takes us through the entire creative process from the Day 1 reading to Day 25 final rehearsal and first preview. We see the admiration given to the two, very different, creative geniuses; the relationships between the older, more experienced actors and the younger newbies, the differences of approach and style, the powerplays, the arguments, and the cunning ways of reaching a solution. The conflicts that develop between the mellifluously spoken, reserved authority of Gielgud versus the strident, belligerent, emotional Burton make for a fine battle of wits. I wasn’t aware until I saw the play that Burton’s Hamlet became the most successful production of the play ever to appear on Broadway. So whatever they did, they did it right.

The Motive and The Cue; not perhaps the snappiest of titles, but they are Hamlet’s own words. As Gielgud explains: “the motive is the spine of a role – the intellect and the reason – the cue is the passion – the inner switch which ignites the heart.” And at its heart, this play follows the search for that magical, intangible element that makes a role come to life – the search for one’s own Hamlet. Everyone’s is different, because we’re all different.

Jack Thorne has created a totally beautiful piece of work. Superbly structured, delicately written, with fascinating characters and the excitement for the audience of seeing the developing readiness in preparation for opening night. It’s littered with marvellous comedy that plays upon the preconceptions of the characters that we already have; we’d guessed, for example, that Gielgud would have faux-modesty about his achievements, that Burton would be brash and drunk, and that Taylor would be sex-on-legs. This carries on even into the supporting cast of recognisable names – for instance, there’s a lot of mickey-taking about Hume Cronyn (Polonius) for always appearing with his wife Jessica Tandy; indeed, I remember seeing them both at the Lyric Theatre in 1979 in The Gin Game.

The play is set in New York of course, and thus Gielgud and Burton are two fish out of water; Brits at work abroad, with all their colleagues being American. Burton, of course, can afford a swanky apartment; Gielgud retreats to a modest little hotel room. They represent two ends of the social scale; old well-bred family versus nouveau riche – a class war, if you like, without class ever being mentioned. You can easily see the upper-crust Gielgud, with all his splendid enunciation, set against the working-class miner’s son Burton, treating the rehearsal space like a bar room brawl. There are some beautiful comic moments that reflect this; Gielgud’s observation that Burton’s Hamlet would have murdered Claudius within a few minutes of meeting the Ghost, and Burton’s hilarious entry to Gertrude’s bedchamber, bellowing Mother, mother, mother! – followed by Gertrude’s distasteful Withdraw, I hear him coming. There are also some telling observations about fame and anonymity, experience versus innocence; one’s career peaking too soon, not to mention the thinly veiled rivalry between Johnny and Larry.

But what this charmingly likeable play also manages to do is to celebrate excellence all the way through. There’s only one source of negative energy in the show – Burton, when things are going wrong. His aggressive and destructive behaviour wins him no friends or support from the rest of the cast – in fact, there’s a splendid moment when Eileen Herlie who plays Gertrude gives him a terrific slap around the chops that the entire audience admires. But there’s a positive outcome after Liz Taylor gives Gielgud some insight into Burton’s background which he can use to make Burton properly find his own Hamlet. And, with a successful run on Broadway, it’s one of those rare things – a straight play with a happy ending!

The play is beautifully presented as a treat for the eyes and ears. Es Devlin’s rehearsal room set is stark and spacious, clearly lit, with a few comfortable touches around the edges but primarily designed to create an acting space with no hiding place. The theatrically artificial setting is enhanced by the curtains creating a boxy, proscenium space as they change from scene to scene; with lovely touches like the wilting flowers in the Burton/Taylor apartment, lit in a lurid red light. Scenes blend by rehearsing sections of Hamlet at the front of the curtain which then merge into the rest of the stage. It’s a very fluid, seamless transition from scene to scene. Each scene is introduced by an onstage projection telling us which day of the rehearsal process we’re at, with an appropriate Hamlet quote for good measure. Both acts start with a pithy piece of music from Sir Noel Coward – nothing particularly to do with the story, but delightfully appropriate, especially after the interval, with Why must the show go on?

Gielgud and Burton dominate proceedings, as you would expect, but the entire cast work perfectly together. Tuppence Middleton is superb as Elizabeth Taylor; dressed glamorously, immaculate in appearance, a dangerous concoction of sexually provocative and motherly protector. Janie Dee makes the most of her appearances as Eileen Herlie, brooking no nonsense from Burton, whilst being a good team player; plenty of opportunities for terrific comic timing and withering looks. Allan Corduner is excellent as the blustery, rather pompous Hume Cronyn, and Luke Norris also stands out as the rather miscast William Redfield, too experienced to play Guildenstern but keen to work with the big names.

Laurence Ubong Williams delivers a standout cameo as Hugh McHaffie, the gentleman caller that Gielgud has hired for a night of passion that turns into a much needed therapy session; Phoebe Horn portrays the young Linda Marsh (Ophelia) with a terrific feel for the nervousness of the lowest in the pecking order; and David Tarkenter absolutely looks the part of Alfred Drake (Claudius), perhaps a surprisingly insignificant role considering how important Claudius is to Hamlet and what a star Alfred Drake was of musical theatre at the time.

Johnny Flynn is brilliant as Burton; the character adopts so many attitudes and moods over the course of the play, and he gets them all spot-on. A louche braggart, a vindictive drunk, a humble searcher for the truth. His vocal timbre is superbly suggestive of Burton without being an impersonation, but his physical presence and body language completely bring to mind the original. It’s a fantastic performance. So too is Mark Gatiss as Gielgud; again not an impersonation but there’s something about the blend of his physicality and voice that makes you think you are seeing Sir John on the stage again. The flowing tones, the waspish wit, the impatience that lurks under the surface always hidden by a veneer of politeness – it’s all there. He really takes your breath away.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such an easy, instant standing ovation at the National Theatre for a play, not a musical, in a matinee, not an evening. You could tell from the expressions of the actors at curtain call that they know they are trustees of a fantastic play. Surely this will have a life after Lyttelton.

Five Alive let Theatre Thrive!

Review – Trap For Cinderella, Errol Flynn Filmhouse, Northampton, 23rd July 2013

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I think it’s fair to say we were a select little crowd that attended Tuesday night’s showing of Trap For Cinderella – I’m not sure we quite made it to double figures. Maybe the rather lame reviews it has received were to blame; and indeed I wasn’t expecting an awful lot from the film as a result. But both Mrs Chrisparkle and I were pleasantly surprised. We found it a very engrossing, well-told psychological thriller, with many a winding plot turn before the final reel.

To reveal too much of the story would spoil it for you, so I’ll be careful. Micky and Do (who are both girls, you wouldn’t know that from just seeing their names written down) were childhood friends who used to play together on holiday in France. Many years later they meet up in London where they both are now working. But Micky can’t remember anything of their old friendship, as she suffered terrible injuries from a gas explosion accident in the interim period, which resulted in considerable plastic surgery and 100% memory loss. All she can do is piece together her life up until the accident by discovering diaries and other documentation. Do, whose affection for Micky borders heavily on the creepy side, moves in with her and their close friendship seems to be secure until it all starts to unravel. And anything more I say will ruin it!

Micky is played by Tuppence Middleton, and she gives a great performance. She’s charismatic, enigmatic and very believable as both the girl who has completely lost her identity due to her accident, and as the lively outgoing arty girl with whom everyone wants to be friends. Alexandra Roach is superb as the rather unhinged Do, ebullient in the satisfaction of being best friends with Micky, and seemingly capable of any retribution when thwarted. Their on-screen partnership is really effective and the occasional hint of their relationship getting a little steamy is tastefully and subtly done. There’s also a very strong and slightly spooky performance by Kerry Fox as Julia, Micky’s aunt’s PA who has acted in loco parentis, but might not be as trustworthy as she seems. There’s classy support from Frances de la Tour and Alex Jennings too.

It’s adapted from a 1963 French novel by Sébastien Japrisot and is directed by Iain Softley. It’s a very atmospheric and stylish film, with a tight script, strong performances, and some moments of great suspense. It’s also a very attractive picture to watch, with wide sweeping views and a nice attention to detail with its French locations. The story resolves itself in a very satisfactory way – sufficiently intriguing to keep your attention all the way through, all loose ends are tied up and you even get a sense of justice at the end. There may be a question mark over some of the motivation for what happens, but in a sense that only serves to keep you guessing and talking about it on the way home. I don’t think it deserves its poor reviews, and you should give it a try!