Sunset Boulevard: The Backstage Cut review – does Norma Desmond really need another closeup?

Perth theatre Aside from a brief pre-shoot ‘discussion’, this take on Billy Wilder’s classic 1950 film has little to offer – despite some fine performances Over the past decade or so, Morag Fullarton has been developing a popular line in bijou Hollywood adaptations. With a camp flourish and a multitasking cast, the writer and director has boiled down favourites including Casablanca and It’s a Wonderful Life. She last had a crack at Sunset Boulevard, then billed as a “lunchtime cut”, in 2015 at Glasgow’s A Play, a Pie and a Pint , the company she went on to co-run for four years. Now associate director at Perth, she has reunited the fine four-strong company who went down so well the first time around, worked in an extra 20 minutes of material and given it a handsome main-stage production. But for all its strengths of mimicry and its affection for Billy Wilder’s 1950 original , it is a show severely lacking in purpose. At Perth theatre until 16 May Continue reading...

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