Spent an enjoyable evening at Her Majesty's Theatre last week watching the fabulous Jerry Hall put on a star turn as Mrs Robinson in the stage play adaptation of The Graduate. Mike Nichol's 1967 film is not amongst my fave movies from that very fertile and creative period of American cinema of the late-60s/early-70s, but the story translated to the stage fairly well, and kept its 1960s setting (with the requisite soundtrack of songs from that era, of course). While the film featured a great and powerful ensemble interplay between Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft and Katherine Ross, here it is all about Jerry (in Bancroft's role). With her sexy strut, boozy flirtations and smoky Texas drawl, Hall is outstanding, just lots of fun to watch in a role that could have easily descended into self-parody in the hands of a lesser talent. It's no coincidence the play drags just a little in the second half, when Hall is on stage less. Nice effective minimalist set design.
