Duet for One

Not one of the West End's more cheerful offerings, even the title Duet for One is enough to make you want to sigh and that's before we find out that brilliant concert violinist Stephanie has multiple sclerosis, is already wheelchair-bound and can't play anymore; that's why she's seeing a psychiatrist. But this show, transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre, didn't sell out at the Almeida for no reason and Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman as Stephanie and her shrink have a significant role to play in that. The six therapy sessions of the play are "played with wit and deftness by both actors" (The Independent), Stevenson turning through an emotional kaleidoscope "from sardonic wit to tumultuous anger, from bright hope to raw pain" (The Telegraph) and Goodman, although not entirely detached, the perfect foil to her blazing pain. Strains of a Bach violin sonata float through the air at times, adding the final, moving note to this powerful play.