Grace Pervades review: Ralph Fiennes sends himself up delightfully

Ralph Fiennes (Henry Irving), Miranda Raison (Ellen Terry) - (Marc Brenner)

Here’s a warm, entertaining love-letter to a blended family of British theatrical pioneers, in which Ralph Fiennes sends himself up delightfully. He plays Henry Irving in David Hare’s play - the Victorian actor-manager who made the English theatre respectable and was the first of his trade to be knighted.

The joke is that Fiennes and Irving, both popular stars with an unwavering commitment to the stage, also both project a pained seriousness of manner. Here, in 1878, Irving recruits the semi-retired Ellen Terry (Miranda Raison) to support his new project, to revive London’s moribund Lyceum theatre with Shakespeare and other classics, knowing he needs her charm to offset his dourness.