Hayley Atwell - Theatre - Major Barbara

* updated 9 March

Reviews

Sunday Herald
"...the cast is uniformly excellent, with Hayley Atwell playing Barbara with the fabulous breeziness of a self-confident heiress..."

Bloomberg
"...Hayley Atwell is good as Barbara, and her pragmatism, courage and exuberant faith feel very real in Act 1. In Act 2, her father becomes the central focus of the play; Shaw woefully underwrote Barbara's part, though Atwell still manages to make her crisis of doubt affecting..."

Telegraph
"...There is superb work from Hayley Atwell, who positively glows with spiritual fervour in the title role..."

John Morrison
"...Simon Russell Beale is on top form as Undershaft the arms magnate, and so is Clare Higgins as his estranged wife. Hayley Atwell, who was a striking Belinda in Hytner's Man of Mode on the same stage last year, is equally impressive as daughter Barbara, the Salvation Army major who can't face the idea of accepting money from her father..."

The Guardian
"...Hayley Atwell captures Barbara's shining, bright-eyed faith..."

The Stage
"...Hayley Atwell’s translucently beautiful Barbara, whose chiselled facial bone structure is as eloquent as her words, gets the passion and determination perfectly..."

Official London theatre guide
"...In Hayley Atwell the production has a Barbara with playfulness in her eyes and seriousness in her jaw-line. Wilful and passionate, dedicated to her beliefs, when money proves an ultimate power, her eyes lose their magnetic sparkle as the heart is ripped out of her belief..."

Pictures
Playbill 1|2

Links
National Theatre [link]

Tags: Hayley+Atwell, Major+Barbara, play, theatre, theater, National+Theatre, London, Simon+Russell+Beale, Clare+Higgins, Shaw, Bernard+Shaw, Nicholas+Hytner