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Stage review
The Guardian
|October 11, 2025
Less a play than a fever dream that plunges into madness
Small Hotel is a play that defies category, or even explanation. This might be a work of outlandish genius, or a devised end of year A-level project featuring world-class actors (led by Ralph Fiennes and Francesca Annis).
It is very funny, although perhaps it doesn’t always mean to be, and well acted, despite the ropey material.
Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, the story - more a fever dream - is of a fading TV show host, Larry (Fiennes), stranded in a liminal space with a luminous bar and a Liverpudlian waiter with an eye patch (Rachel Tucker). His life seems to be flashing before him, or rather circling around him, on Bob Crowley’s stage revolve.
This story is from the October 11, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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