Getting Through It West End Reviews

Other times, however, much of the audience knew what was going on – I don’t recall, for instance, ever being asked to use a pulse oximeter, and therefore had no idea why a result of 58 (as Rosen’s was before he was admitted to hospital) drew au...

Other times, however, much of the audience knew what was going on – I don’t recall, for instance, ever being asked to use a pulse oximeter, and therefore had no idea why a result of 58 (as Rosen’s was before he was admitted to hospital) drew audible gasps from the audience at the Old Vic. The lack of sentimentality made for an engaging experience, as were the inclusions of conversations Rosen had with hospital staff in the weeks and months, and even years, after he was discharged. A unique and extraordinary show.

Rosen, with his gift for reading, holds the audience in his large hands. He is frailer now than he once was, but he has a grandfatherly twinkle in his eye. As I believe they used to say before the internet: “I would listen to him read the phone boo...

Rosen, with his gift for reading, holds the audience in his large hands. He is frailer now than he once was, but he has a grandfatherly twinkle in his eye. As I believe they used to say before the internet: “I would listen to him read the phone book.” Combined with his writing – vivid yet unpretentious, poetic almost without one noticing – Rosen seems to conjure the warm flicker of a campfire from the darkness of his loss.