"As nativity plays go, Most Favoured is a very unusual date drama."
by Patrick Marmion
Most Favoured – Daily Mail ★★★★
https://19thstreetproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Most-Favoured-Best-Ent.-or-Comedy-Play-Danny-Kaan.jpg 2000 1333 19th Street Productions - Entertainment Production Company, London 19th Street Productions - Entertainment Production Company, London https://19thstreetproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Most-Favoured-Best-Ent.-or-Comedy-Play-Danny-Kaan.jpgDaily Mail
by Patrick Marmion, 02 January 2026
Most Favoured (Soho Theatre, London)
Verdict: A challenge ★★★★
“As nativity plays go, Most Favoured is a very unusual date drama. Author David Ireland (behind 2025 hit The Fifth Step, starring Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman) has a nose for trouble – and sniffs it out in a yarn about a couple the morning after a one-night stand. He (Alexander Arnold) is a muscly young American, oddly delighted by a bucket of KFC. She (Lauren Lyle) is a Glasgow party girl who’s just had her best night ever between the sheets. She thinks she has a bombshell for him, but boy does he have one for her. Even if you see the twist coming, there’s plenty of fun on the way.
Max Elton’s stark, 45-minute production is set in the amusingly dismal comforts of a Travelodge hotel. Lyle is thoroughly recognisable as a Clyde-side lassie. And Arnold keeps you guessing and makes an improbable story almost plausible.”
Most Favoured review (print only)