It was press night for Mary Poppins at the Price Edward theatre yesterday evening, and 5 star reviews for the production have been appearing online. Several have had kind wirds about Joseph Millson as Mr Banks. 

There is good work from Joseph Millson as the moody Mr Banks. Guardian *****

The financier patriarch George (lent a lovely John Cleesey uptightness by Joseph Millson) is fretfully preoccupied with work. Telegraph *****

George Banks for me, however, stole the show. Joseph Millson plays the role with wonderful honesty, and his performance of ‘Good for Nothing’ adds an emotional depth to the show that is almost unexpected as reality crashes into the otherwise fantastical story. His journey on stage is a delight to watch and it is impossible not to shed a small tear as he vows to put his family first and holds his wife tightly as the show closes. London Theatre Direct 

Joseph Millson brings genuine pathos to the crumbling patriarch. The Arts Desk

The main focus is on the adult Mr Banks, an emotional deep freeze of a father and husband who was severely traumatised as a child by his own nanny (the demonic ‘Holy Terror’). It is he who Zizi Strallen’s somewhat blank Mary Poppins has come to thaw and Joseph Millson’s gradual transformation from tightly buttoned-up capitalist to devoted family man is what, in the end, motors the evening. Metro

Joseph Millson is suitably austere as the paterfamilias. The Times

Photos from press night have started to appear online. Find some on Getty and Shutterstock.

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