Skip to content
Bramble

Entertainment

Noah Schnapp and Janette Manrara star in Affluenza at Riverside Studios; Guardian pans it

Stranger Things' Noah Schnapp and former Strictly pro Janette Manrara star in Andy Sandberg's Hamptons play Affluenza in London. The run has been extended to 28 November, and The Guardian's review is scathing.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Evening Standard
Image: The Guardian

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp and former Strictly Come Dancing professional Janette Manrara are appearing in the play Affluenza at Riverside Studios, London. Centre · 1The play, set in the Hamptons, follows a teenager involved in a drunken car ride that ends in disaster. It is written and directed by Andy Sandberg, who was previously a producer on the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair. Centre · 1The cast also includes Rupert Young, described by the Evening Standard as a Bridgerton and Dear Evan Hansen star, and Wallis Currie-Wood of Madame Secretary.

Centre · 1The run, originally due to end on 21 November, has been extended because of ticket demand and will now finish on 28 November. Sandberg said the team had been thrilled by audience reaction in previews. Left · 1The Guardian's Arifa Akbar reviewed the play negatively, calling it a "baffling disaster" that starts intriguingly before coming "off the rails". In the first half, Schnapp's Dylan, a rich 16-year-old, has killed two people while drink-driving and his parents plan a defence with a lawyer, invoking "affluenza". Left · 1After the interval the story jumps forward decades: Young plays the middle-aged Dylan, who has turned his past into a reality TV show, while Schnapp plays Dylan's 17-year-old son Todd. The review calls both of Schnapp's roles supporting parts and questions why a big name was cast in them.

Left · 1The review says Manrara, acting rather than dancing, plays a host of tiny roles, including the family's cleaning lady and a woman on the reality TV set, and asks why she was put in a corner. Mixed · 2The Guardian review also notes that Schnapp faced backlash for comments made soon after the 7 October Hamas attacks. The Evening Standard piece instead notes that Manrara said on a podcast she had chemistry-tested to host the current Strictly series, which went elsewhere, and that she was devastated.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
A critical review that calls the play a spectacular failure, though one it finds hard to look away from.
Emphasis
Plot incoherence, the wasted supporting roles for the two celebrities, and Schnapp's past controversy.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the extended run or ticket demand.
Charged language
“baffling disaster”“theatrical car crash in slow motion”
For example
“coming off the rails in spectacular, almost fascinating style” — The Guardian

Centre1 outlet

Framing
A casting and ticket-news item that presents the production positively, with a quote from the playwright.
Emphasis
Cast credits, the extended run and Manrara's Strictly background.
Leaves out or plays down
Gives no assessment of the play itself.
For example
“has been extended due to ticket demand and will now end on November 28.” — Evening Standard

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.