The Whisky Taster

The Independent“A brilliantly pacey and culturally penetrating new comedy...” It induces some of the exhilaration you get from the headlong knowingness of the best TV comedy, such as The Thick of It, while having the strong metaphoric framework of inspired theatre...

The Telegraph“Like a great malt whisky, this rich, idiosyncratic drama...” This fine new play by James Graham is a classic example of the Bush Theatre at its quirky best. It is charming, funny, sad and original and has much to say about the times in which we live...

The Times“Works best when it’s not trying to amuse...” It’s a well played evening. But while I’d love to see the show that could wrangle all these ideas along with an outsized title character with issues of his own, this isn’t quite it...

Financial Times“A crisply written, engaging play...” It's hijacked by the will-they-won’t-they romance, which distracts from what you most want to know: what it really feels like to have Barney’s neurological pathways. We never quite get under his skin, though Barnett gives a very good performance.

The Stage“Thought-provoking, observant and emotionally intelligent...” Written with enormous charm, psychological depth and satirical bite, The Whisky Taster is a bitter-sweet story of contemporary London workaholic youth, which blossoms, in director James Grieve and designer Lucy Osborne’s beautiful production...

Guardian“While it is breezily entertaining, it never achieves the perfect blend...” John Stahl as the whisky-taster possesses the grizzled gravitas of the late Finlay Currie. It may not be a perfect play, but so persuasive was Stahl's presence that I rushed home to enjoy what Pinter once called "the great malt that wounds"...

Whatsonstage.com“The two hours flash by pleasantly enough...” James Graham's play is signally impressive in this respect alone: it seems to amount to more or less nothing at all but is performed with the sort of conviction that convinces an audience it must have missed something...

Remotegoat.co.uk“Not yet reviewed...”

this is london“Not yet reviewed...”

Time Out“Not yet reviewed...”