Critical Reviews
Although the critics of the original production were unanimous in recognising the play as a new departure for Ayckbourn, the reviews were heavily polarised. Robin Thornber for The Guardian praise the play for building the character of Julia effective in spite of her never being on stage, as did David Jeffels of The Stage. Kate Bassett for The Times drew comparisons with the child Wolfgang Mozart and the death of Kurt Cobain, although she had some doubts about the ending. However, Charles Spencer of the Daily Telegraph held the opinion that the play aimed to be both a ghost story or a study of grief and failed to do either, although he liked the character of Ken and the final ten minutes. Paul Taylor for The Independent was just as scathing, dismissing Joe's shrine to Julia and Ken's 12-year wait to tell Joe what he knew as implausible.
It has been suggested that the difference in opinion may have been down to reviewers being split between those who favoured Ayckbourn's move towards more contemporary themes, and those who preferred his earlier plays concentrating on social realism.
The 1999 and 2008 revivals, however, were generally received positively.
Read more about this topic: Haunting Julia
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