Loving seeing these great audience reactions. It bodes well!

Wow, that's incredible news Becca, look forward to hearing all about it and hope you have a memorable evening!

You may very well be the first to vote in the poll!

Woah Becca!!  A past show talk? - how fantastic!!!  Have great evening.....really looking forward to hearing all about it.

I'm not in the least surprised that the reaction so far has been so overwhelmingly positive.....but I have to say that I'm really pleased by how much Damien has been mentioned in the comments I've seen so far - considering the company he's in I did wonder if he might be completely overlooked! 

Love that review by Leed Book Club.....but slightly amused by the comment: "Irritatingly, I was well into the second half before I recognised Molony from Being Human and Ripper Street – he is transformed in this."  Firstly I'm not sure why that should be irritating....but also - transformed from what?  I always thought Hal and Albert were very different characters! 

Also saw a comment somewhere about Damien's chameleon-like qualities..... Can't wait to see this - 3 weeks today!!

 

It was Sheffield press night on Monday, here's a review from the Derbyshire Times with a brief mention on Damien!

Review: Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart shine in No Man’s Land | Derbyshire Times

 

 

"Foster (Damien Molony), full of his own attractiveness"

No Man’s Land, Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield | The Star

Thanks to  rubyrosettared for alerting me to this ★★★★★ No Man's Land review, on opening night at the Newcastle Theatre Royal!

No idea why this part stands out

 

Then, suddenly, in come the interlopers, Damien Molony’s self-regarding young Foster, flicking his 70s-style hair and cutting through the air of drink-fuelled gentility with swear words, and Owen Teale’s Briggs who is straight out of a Ray Winstone movie.

 

Have any forumers been to see it yet? It would be amazing to read a forumer review!

The review in the a Evening Chronicle is slightly different to the one I tweeted to you Domino, that one, though tweeted via the Chronicle Twitter account appears in its sister paper, The Journal.

The Chronicle review was by Hannah Graham. Another glowing review!

"In the hands of four fantastic actors, No Man's Land moves from hilarity through awkwardness to tragedy..."

Damien's character was described by the reviewer as being "bright, camp and unexpectedly violent" (colour me intrigued!)

So its been a week since I saw the play (apologies for the delay is posting, I don't know where the last 7 days have gone) and I have to pretty much agree with all the points made in the Chronicle's review.

All four actors give wonderful performances. The two Sirs are clearly very comfortable in their roles and give a masterclass in how to deliver, what can be difficult to follow, Pinter lines. Both gave surprisingly energetic performances for men in their 70's, McKellen is particularly sprightly.

Damien's character Foster is a bit of a cockney wide-boy. Very self assured " Everybody likes me, the ladies love me" (he's not wrong) and his introduction along with Owen Teale's Briggs offer both comedy & menace to the story.

Whilst the two Sirs are undoubtedly the stars of the show both Damien & Owen more than hold their own on the stage and truly make this performance an ensemble piece and not the double header it could have been.

Although I can't fault the performances it was the story itself that let the play down for me. I like a beginning, middle & end and this, well what is this?
The after show Q&A showed that I was not the only person thinking this as the first question asked was "I really enjoyed it but what was it about?" Ian McKellen answered this with "It's just about life. Take it for the situation it is. Don't try to read too much into it - these characters are all there, this is the situation they find themselves in and how they deal with it" I'll try to remember this when I see it again in November but I was still left with questions about what was actually happening.

The two Sirs understandably fielded most of the questions but Damien did make a few points that I remember:
1. He rang his Dad after first read through to say that he didn't know how he was going to do this as he just kept finding himself staring in awe at Ian McKellen.
2. On the first few read throughs they all read each others parts so that they could understand what was happening in the play.
3. If he could play another character it would be Spooner - to which Ian McKellen said he expects to see him in the role in a future incarnation of the play. Ian was very complimentary to Damien's performance of Foster and said that his and Owen Teale's introduction to the cast brought a new lease of life to the play for him and Patrick Stewart.

Stage door had a barrier keeping us from the actors and as expected there was quite a crowd waiting. Patrick Stewart came out first, signed a few autographs & went back in.
Ian McKellen was next, he stayed out a bit longer and took some photos but we couldn't get close.
Damien came out last (we didn't see Owen Teale). He looked as if he didn't really expect anyone to be there for him but spotted us and came straight over to say Hi. We told him we thought his performance was great & he thanked us for coming. I asked if he was enjoying the experience to which he said he was pinching himself everyday.
A few others were waiting for Damien's autograph at this point so we stepped aside, however as he was about to leave we asked if we could grab a photo which he of course obliged.

I gave the play 3 stars - performances were great but the play itself wasn't my cup of tea.

Damien Molony Forum wrote:

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Thank you Lisa, I didn't realise there were two, just followed the link you tweeted. Is there a link to the Hannah Graham one ? Or is it a non online publication?

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 I've had a look on the website and the only review on the site is the one that i tweeted you yet the review in the actual hard copy is different, by a different reviewer and i can't seem to find her review online. It's very puzzling. If you'd like me to transcribe the review, let me know :)