Kenneth Branagh double bill impresses critics

Dame Judi Dench plays Paulina opposite Sir Kenneth Branagh's tortured king Leontes in The Winter's Tale

A double bill of Shakespeare and Terence Rattigan by Sir Kenneth Branagh's theatre company has impressed critics.

His production of The Winter's Tale, co-starring Dame Judi Dench, played ahead of Rattigan's farce Harlequinade and the monologue All On Her Own.

The Guardian praised a production "unafraid to hint at the darker elements of Shakespeare's fable".

The Stage called Harlequinade "light, slight, but undeniably amiable".

The comedy, set amidst a touring theatre company putting on productions of Romeo and Juliet and The Winter's Tale, sees Sir Kenneth send up his own theatricality as the single-minded thespian Arthur Gosport - who may or may not be an unsuspecting bigamist.

Harlequinade stars Jekyll and Hyde actor Tom Bateman

BritishTheatre.com called the play, written by Rattigan in 1948, a "delicate, frothy, and terrifically funny theatrical fairy-tale of sorts. Like all great fairy-tales, it has a very clear moral: theatre is wonderful".

Harlequinade was preceded by the monologue All On Her Own - also written by Rattigan for television in 1968 - starring Zoe Wanamaker as a woman mourning her recently deceased husband in the dead of night.

Armed with a decanter of whisky, she converses with him in her mind, adopting his northern accent - and in doing so exposes the frayed threads of their failing marriage.

Variety's reviewer called the 30-minute play "the best of the bunch".

"It's a sharp, layered look at loneliness, grief and the tensions of marital compromise," it added. "Ever so poignant and ever so well played. All truth, no vanity."

Wanamaker also plays Dame Maud in Harlequinade

The Evening Standard agreed, calling Wanamaker's performance "at once fierce and melancholy - finely judged and genuinely sad".

In a five-star review, What's On Stage, praised "a generous, full-hearted, thoroughly enjoyable occasion".

It said Dame Judi "brings all her deeply felt wisdom and humanity to bear on the role".

The Arts Desk's three-star review for Shakespeare's tale of jealousy and betrayal said of Sir Kenneth's performance: "He strains, he paces, he roars, each new suspicion a staggering body blow, and the madness that robs him of sleep leaving him wild-eyed and literally swooning.

"Compelling, certainly, but this melodramatic physicalisation of a psychological affliction soon grows wearisome."

The Independent, however, said the actor gave "an extraordinarily searching portrayal of Leontes, the Sicilian king seized with baseless suspicion that his wife and bosom friend are having an affair".

Although the productions were shown back-to-back for press, they will play separately in future.

The Winter's Tale will be broadcast to cinemas worldwide on 26 November.

The plays are part of a season at the Garrick Theatre in the West End by the Kenneth Branagh Company and include productions of Romeo and Juliet; The Painkiller, starring Rob Brydon; The Entertainer and the Tricycle theatre's production of Red Velvet.