Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Review: WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS, The Mill at Sonning

Well performed and appropriately directed, but fatally unexciting

Review: WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS, The Mill at Sonning

Review: WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS, The Mill at Sonning After its dazzling festive offering of Top Hat, The Mill at Sonning is serving audiences a menu of new theatrical fare in 2023. To commence their new season, the usual two course buffet is quickly followed by a two act play: Jill Hyem's We'll Always Have Paris.

Billed as a romantic comedy, the eye-catching poster artwork courtesy of Oink Creative seems to promise a sort of European 9 to 5, but upon closer inspection the play scarcely lives up to this colourful concept. What's the French for beige?

The plot follows three former boarding school chums, now a cultured retiree, an anxious widow and a semi-professional divorcé. They reunite in France to discuss the dissatisfying trajectories of their lives and navigate personality clashes as hostess Nancy (Elizabeth Elvin) reintroduces reluctant carer Anna (Natalie Ogle) to Raquel (Debbie Arnold) who has recently returned from another rejuvenating Turkey excursion. Served with a curtly xenophobic French landlady (Basienka Blake) and a flirtatious local handyman (Richard Keep), Sonning ought to have another tasty theatrical treat on offer.

Arnold snatches the most laughs as the outrageous Raquel and is fabulously attired by Natalie Titchener while Natalie Ogle's transformative performance as a sexagenarian reborn is tremendously endearing.

As Managing and Artistic Director for The Mill at Sonning, Sally Hughes is already accustomed to wearing multiple different hats. She is also at the helm of this production as director and keeps what action there is brisk and lively with frequent use of the generous number of doors in Michael Holt's charming Parisian apartment set.

Unfortunately, the show's production photography, which lines the walls of the stairwell, begins to betray how uneventful the play actually is. Though Hyem establishes and develops her characters with legitimate depth, the events which unfold never prove compelling enough to justify the theatricalisation of this story and the writing feels better suited to decades-old British sitcoms. Each situation is, for the most part, encountered with unfailing politeness and a hint of repressed British indifference which makes the characters admirable, if disappointingly dull. It's a little like an episode of Rosemary & Thyme in which nobody is killed.

This isn't to say it's a bad play, rather one that is capably written, well performed and appropriately directed, but fatally unexciting. It is otherwise inoffensive, unless you object to bafflingly poor onstage monopoly gameplay (just because the French don't drive on the left doesn't mean order of play should pass to the right) or an evidently uninformed attempt at playing an acoustic guitar.

Admittedly this all may appeal entirely to the venue's usual crowd who charmedly tittered throughout the matinee performance, but for visitors expecting a compelling and purposeful narrative it might not be worth the traffic.

We'll Always Have Paris at The Mill at Sonning until 11 March

Photo Credit: Andrea Lambis



Review: ASTORIA, Jack Studio Theatre Photo
Tony Britten's play is funny and moving if, at times, tricky to follow

Kerry Ellis Releases New Single Battlefield, featuring Sir Brian May Photo
The supremely talented Kerry Ellis has released Battlefield, the first single taken from her upcoming album Kings & Queens, out on 12 May. Featuring the legendary Sir Brian May on guitar, the track is available to stream and download now, while the album can be pre-ordered via Westway Music.

Samantha Womack, Michael Praed, Faye Tozer, Les Dennis and Nicole-Lily Baisden Will Lead 4 Photo
​​​​​​​Samantha Womack will star as Dorothy Brock, alongside Michael Praed as Julian Marsh, Faye Tozer as Maggie Jones, Les Dennis as Bert Barry and Nicole-Lily Baisden as Peggy Sawyer in the UK tour of 42nd STREET.

Special Spring Offer on NEWSIES at Troubadour Wembley Park Photo
Disney’s Newsies, the sensational family musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and book by Harvey Fierstein is now playing at London’s Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre for a limited season.


From This Author - Mickey-Jo Boucher


Review: THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO, Birmingham Rep TheatreReview: THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO, Birmingham Rep Theatre
February 23, 2023

Beginning as a writer some decades into his acting career, Ian Hallard cites his motivations for The Way Old Friends Do, his first play, as providing a means for him to portray a dream role. Namely, Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA's girl with the golden hair.

Review: LIVE TO TELL: (A PROPOSAL FOR) THE MADONNA MUSICAL, Omnibus TheatreReview: LIVE TO TELL: (A PROPOSAL FOR) THE MADONNA MUSICAL, Omnibus Theatre
February 14, 2023

An autobiographical piece, it acquaints its audience with Brian, an eccentric American writer living with HIV. Per the name of the play, he is also frantically putting together a pitch for a musical using Madonna's discography, a project he fears is being impeded by his current medication.

Review: WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS, The Mill at SonningReview: WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS, The Mill at Sonning
January 30, 2023

Billed as a romantic comedy, the eye-catching poster artwork courtesy of Oink Creative seems to promise a sort of European '9 to 5', but upon closer inspection the play scarcely lives up to this colourful concept. What's the French for beige?

Review: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Ustinov Studio, BathReview: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Ustinov Studio, Bath
January 19, 2023

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is not an easy play to watch, rather a theatrical storm that must be endured with three contempt-filled acts making up a three and a half hour runtime.

Review: THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, The LowryReview: THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, The Lowry
December 21, 2022

Just over a year after the opening of its West End run at the Duke of York’s Theatre, the critically acclaimed production remains a singularly thrilling piece of storytelling.