Jesse Tyler Ferguson stars as Truman Capote in Tru at the Menier Chocolate Factory, and every critic agrees he’s superb, even as they disagree about the play built around him.
Tru is Jay Presson Allen’s 1989 solo play, reviving Truman Capote as a monologue set at his New York apartment at Christmas 1975, shortly after the writer’s socialite friends turned on him over a thinly fictionalised extract from his unfinished novel Answered Prayers.
Rob Ashford’s production, first staged off-Broadway earlier this year, stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson — best known for eleven seasons of Modern Family, and recently seen in the West End as Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar — as Capote, with Charlotte d’Amboise as a wordless, symbolic figure known only as The Swan. Tru is booking at the Menier Chocolate Factory until 14 November 2026.
The verdict: Critics are unanimous that Jesse Tyler Ferguson gives an exceptional central performance, but split on whether Jay Presson Allen’s script gives him enough to work with.
Critics’ comparison
| Publication | Rating | The Key Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| The Guardian | ★★★★☆ | A flawless performance trapped inside a script that doesn’t deserve it |
| West End Theatre | ★★★★☆ | Magnificent from Ferguson, though the second half loses momentum |
| Financial Times | ★★★☆☆ | A magnificent performance and an even more magnificent set, trapped in a play that goes nowhere |
| The Stage | ★★★☆☆ | Ferguson is magnetic, but the play itself never finds a shape |
| The Times | ★★★☆☆ | A remarkable performance and design, but a script that doesn’t go especially deep |
| Time Out | ★★★☆☆ | The design is so good it almost outshines Ferguson himself |
| The Telegraph | ★★☆☆☆ | Ferguson is excellent, but wonders whether British audiences will care about Capote at all |
The reviews: what they loved about Tru
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s performance. Almost all single out Ferguson’s control over Capote’s shifting register across the eighty-five-minute monologue, never letting the character’s charm slip into caricature. The Guardian’s Mark Lawson called it “a feat of varied pacing and intonation” that Ferguson judges immaculately, while the Times’s Dominic Maxwell praised how he “leans into all of Tru’s Southern camp charisma without caricaturing it.” Even Claire Allfree at The Telegraph, in her otherwise damning two-star review, praises how he makes Capote “intriguingly complex and interestingly unlikeable“.
- A set you can practically sit inside. Paul Farnsworth’s design turns the Menier’s small stage into a full recreation of Capote’s apartment, with the audience seated among the furniture. The Stage’s Sam Marlowe called it an “absorbing, immersive design,” and West End Theatre’s Julianna Barnaby noted feeling “close enough that you half expect to be handed a drink.”
The reviews: what fell flat for Tru
- A script that doesn’t match its performance. Several critics felt the writing itself doesn’t give Ferguson enough to justify the running time. The Guardian felt the play “sounds oddly light about addiction and betrayal,” and the Times concluded it’s “interesting rather than really dramatic.” Sarah Hemming at the Financial Times concluded the evening “begins to feel like a rather long footnote” on Capote’s career.
- The Swan doesn’t quite land. Charlotte d’Amboise’s wordless movement role divided opinion. The Stage found it “awkward to watch,” and West End Theatre’s own review noted “she doesn’t have much in the way of actual lines to go with it.“
- A specifically British problem. The Telegraph raised a critique no other publication shared: that the play’s world of 1970s Manhattan socialites may simply not translate for a UK audience, arguing Capote is “not a figure who looms particularly large in the British cultural imagination.“
Where to see Tru
- Venue: Menier Chocolate Factory, until 14 November 2026
- Age: 15+
- Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes, no interval
- Book here
What are the critics saying about Tru at Menier Chocolate Factory ?
"A feat of varied pacing and intonation that Tyler Ferguson immaculately judges."
"Paul Farnsworth’s design is less set than installation, making the whole Menier a convincing recreation... of Capote’s New York apartment."
"Here is a particularly frustrating example of an at least five-star performance of an at best three-star script."
"Jesse Tyler Ferguson is magnificent in the role, fully inhabiting Capote's odd rhythms of speech and thought. "
"The Menier Chocolate Factory's compact stage has been rebuilt as Capote's New York apartment circa December 1975, close enough that you half expect to be handed a drink, and the effect does more to make this feel like an immersive experience than any amount of audience interaction could."
"He flashes from acid commentary... circling something like remorse before darting away from it into another line of self-deprecating wit the instant it gets too close."
"With Capote's monologues as the sole focus for almost the entire running time, there are stretches where his reflections curdle into self-indulgent repetition, and although that arguably suits a play about a man who can't stop talking about himself, the back half does slacken."
"If you want to see a really fine performance, go see Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Truman Capote in Tru. "
"Be wowed by how the designer Paul Farnsworth has turned the Menier Chocolate Factory... into an outsized reimagining of Capote’s brown-and-burgundy New York living room."
" Jay Presson Allen’s 1989 monologue offers plenty of curiosity value and a welter of zingy lines."
"Tru doesn’t go deep, but its skill and vim carries it for a while."
"Tyler Ferguson impeccably catches Capote’s fluting delivery and expansive style"
"the play itself – largely an hour and a half of self-indulgent ramblings – lacks purpose, shape and dynamic."
"But it’s never clear who he’s talking to, or why – what’s our role in his monologue?"
"Charlotte D’Amboise... strikes balletic poses and briefly lends her voice to figures from Capote’s past. Mostly, though, she just drapes herself over the furniture, wearing a pained expression. At such close quarters, it’s awkward to watch"
"Quite stunning environment for Tru."
"A lifetime's memories packed into a few square metres."
"Doesn't quite fill the space."
"The whole thing begins to feel like a rather long footnote."
"The stunning immersive set slightly upstages star Jesse Tyler Ferguson."
"The level of detail is astounding."
"Ferguson brings Capote to life."
"Maybe it's not a great play."
"Does anyone still care about Truman Capote?"
"An awful lot of the script fails to land."
"Watching Tru is a bit like attending a party full of strangers."
Menier Chocolate Factory, London
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