Mitra

“The horror of its content, the monochrome stage setting, the anti-music and the blistering cinematography: they all come together in an unusually intense performance out of which arises a longstanding question: what role do the arts have to play? If theatre is no longer an institution where the tragic is made workable and raised to a higher level by means of aesthetics, does it still have a place in our existence?”

Cutting Edge - 10 May 2018 ***

“A surprising multidisciplinary piece that leaves no one unmoved. … The ambient sounds, music and the singers’ voices come from every corner of the theatre simultaneously. … It is an all-embracing experience. … In addition to McFadden’s notable stage performance, the work that preceded it also made an impression. … This is something that should be meticulously followed up; it is for the most intrepid opera audiences.”

Olyrix - 13 May 2018

“This documentary-inspired story of an Iranian psychoanalyst’s correspondence with a colleague in the west about her struggle to remain sane while being wrongfully incarcerated is harrowing and speaks to the sense of precarity and sadness that arguably appears to define our contemporary time. The production succeeds in excellently articulating an overwhelmingly clinical desolation, as a psychiatric ward in Tehran is brought into being using a sensitive mix of stark lighting, strict linearity of set design.”

The Jury of the 2018 edition of MusicTheatreNOW competition