fusty

The National opening night arrived, and history, it can fairly be said, was made: Here, working on a scale heretofore unavailable to him in London, was Daldry exploding for full emotional and visual impact the fustiest of repertory stalwarts, bursting Priestley's play wide open to discover the Pirandello-ish masterwork that lay inside.

Alone at the Beach, about the romantic entanglements of assorted yuppies sharing a summer house in the Hamptons, could be moved to Broadway with its set (by Paul Owen, as were the festival's six other remarkably varied sets) and cast intact, and everyone but the fustiest critics would love it.