That Face is a two-act play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 written by Polly Stenham

Polly Stenham

Polly Stenham is an award-winning English playwright best known for her play That Face, which she wrote when she was only 19 years old.-Background:...

. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre

Royal Court Theatre

The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 26 April 2007, directed by Jeremy Herrin

Jeremy Herrin

Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director and currently the Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre in London. He trained as a theatre director at both the Royal Court and the National Theatre...

. The play was revived at the Duke of York's Theatre

Duke of York's Theatre

The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...

 in the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 in 2008, opening on 1 May. It made its American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 premiere in May 2010, at the Manhattan Theatre Club

Manhattan Theatre Club

Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...

, running thru 27 June.

Plot

Mia is at boarding school and has access to her mother's drugs. She gets into trouble for drugging a fellow student and this causes her father to be brought back to England from Hong Kong. Henry, her brother, has dropped out of school and has to stay at home and look after his alcoholic mother. Martha their fading glamorous mother controls their lives whilst her own sick mind and world crumble around her.

Original West End production

When That Face premiered on the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

, the cast was as follows: Lindsay Duncan

Lindsay Duncan

Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...

, Hannah Murray

Hannah Murray

Hannah Murray is an English actress, best known for playing Cassie Ainsworth in the E4 teen drama Skins from 2007 to 2008.-Career:...

, Matt Smith

Matt Smith (British actor)

Matthew Robert Smith is an English stage and television actor. He is known for his role as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who, for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination in 2011....

, Catherine Steadman

Catherine Steadman

Catherine Steadman is an English actress, best known for playing Joan Bulmer, best friend and betrayer of Catherine Howard in the fourth and final season of The Tudors.-Career:...

 and Julian Wadham

Julian Wadham

-Career:He has appeared on television as both Charles II and George V...

. Prior to the West End transfer, Felicity Jones

Felicity Jones

Felicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...

 played the Hannah Murray

Hannah Murray

Hannah Murray is an English actress, best known for playing Cassie Ainsworth in the E4 teen drama Skins from 2007 to 2008.-Career:...

 role.

2010 New York production

The Manhattan Theatre Club

Manhattan Theatre Club

Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...

 mounted the play on its Stage I in May 2010, with Cristin Milioti

Cristin Milioti

Cristin Milioti is an American actress who has worked primarily in Broadway theatre. She is the 2010 star of That Face.-Biography:...

 and Christopher Abbott portraying the siblings, and Laila Robins

Laila Robins

-Personal life:Robins was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Latvian American parents Brigita and Janis Robins, who was a research chemist. She attended the Yale School of Drama, and received her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, . Robins has been in a...

 as the mother.

Critical reaction

That Face was received very positively from the critics, who particularly praised the new writer and the performances from the actors. Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

said it was "a blazing, no-holds barred production… Fresh, passionate and blackly comic – exhilarating... Lindsay Duncan’s superb performance...Matt Smith is outstanding.". The Daily Express mentioned that "Polly Stenham

Polly Stenham

Polly Stenham is an award-winning English playwright best known for her play That Face, which she wrote when she was only 19 years old.-Background:...

 is a modern successor to Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...

 or Edward Albee

Edward Albee

Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...

... Intensely moving, skillfully crafted piece." The Daily Express, The Evening Standard, The Guardian, The Times, Time Out, Metro, Radio 4 and The Sunday Times also reviewed it very positively. In late 2009, the play was named at no. 9 in The Times Top Twenty Plays of the Decade. It also received three Olivier Award nominations (one in 2008, before the transfer, then nods for Best New Play and Best Actress in a Play in 2009).