Mood Music (play)

Mood Music
Written by	Joe Penhall
Characters	Cat Bernard Vanessa Ramsay Miles Seymour
Date premiered	21 April 2018
Place premiered	The Old Vic, London
Original language	English
Subject	The music industry
Setting	A recording studio and consulting rooms in London

Mood Music is a play by Joe Penhall

Production history

The play premiered at The Old Vic, London from 21 April to 16 June 2018 in a production directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Chaplin as Bernard (who had assumed the role following the departure of Rhys Ifans) and Seána Kerslake as Cat.^[1][2]

In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, an archive recording of the Old Vic production was streamed on YouTube for one week as part of the Your Old Vic project.

Cast and characters

Character	London (2018)[3]
Cat, a recording artist	Seána Kerslake
Bernard, a record producer	Ben Chaplin
Vanessa, her psychotherapist	Jemma Redgrave
Ramsay, his psychotherapist	Pip Carter
Miles, her lawyer	Kurt Egyiawan
Seymour, his lawyer	Neil Stuke

Reception

The production opened at the Old Vic to positive reviews, with five stars from the Evening Standard^[4] and four stars from The Times,^[5] The Guardian,^[6] The Independent^[7] and The Arts Desk.^[8]

References

1. "Rhys Ifans withdraws from the Old Vic's Mood Music". Retrieved 8 May 2018.
2. Bano, Tim. "Joe Penhall's Mood Music review". The Stage. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
3. Limited, London Theatre Direct (27 February 2018). "Final Updated Cast for Mood Music". Retrieved 8 May 2018. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
4. "Mood Music, Old Vic, London — electrifyingly smart". Financial Times. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
5. Hart, Christopher (6 May 2018). "Theatre review: Mood Music, Old Vic". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
6. Billington, Michael (3 May 2018). "Mood Music review – Joe Penhall's clash of the hitmakers". the Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
7. "Mood Music, Old Vic, London, review: Joe Penhall's forceful play explores the relationship between commercialism and creativity". The Independent. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
8. "Mood Music, Old Vic review - riveting critique of the music biz". theartsdesk.com. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.