The Roundabout Season is well and truly up and running with LUNGS by Duncan Macmillan, ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG by Nick Payne and THE SOUND OF HEAVY RAIN by Penelope Skinner playing in Rep in our beautiful pop-up theatre at Shoreditch Town Hall until 27 October.
Last Tuesday the critics sharpened their pencils and encircled the stage for our press day, and here’s what they had to say:
PRAISE FOR THE ROUNDABOUT SEASON:
The Roundabout Auditorium, designed by Lucy Osborne
“Revered touring company Paines Plough has steered clear of London for the past couple of years, but now it’s back… and what a return this is.”
★★★★ Time Out (Print edition only)
“That noble company Paines Plough, de facto national theatre of new writing… sharp and stylish… it works brilliantly.”
The Daily Telegraph
“It’s a terrific idea from increasingly ambitious new writing company Paines Plough… three of our most promising playwrights… a finely tuned ensemble of four actors.”
★★★★ Evening Standard
“Three short, sharp plays; four clever actors; and a travelling wooden theatre… a national tour should brighten many hundreds of lives, young and old.”
★★★★ Whatsonstage.com
“An enticingly intimate space… four remarkable actors.”
The Guardian
“The only place to be yesterday… marks an exciting new development in the history of in-the-round theatres launched by Stephen Joseph in Stoke-on-Trent and then Scarborough 50 years ago.”
Michael Coveney
“Three new works by playwrights at the top of their game…an ingenious in-the-round plywood amphitheatre… make for a vivid and immediate theatre experience.”
★★★★ Exeunt Magazine
“Its enforced intimacy ensures a laser like focus from the rapt 138 strong audience… a superb performance space.”
The Stage
“Three plays, three ambitious but wildly different stories of fractured couples, one impressive auditorium.”
The Times (Paywall)
PRAISE FOR ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
Maia Alexander and Andrew Sheridan in ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG by Nick Payne
“Payne hits his mark… Maia Alexander, making an exceedingly promising stage debut… Clare Lizzimore directs with style.”
★★★★ Evening Standard
“Payne writes with an acute authenticity and the performances of Maia Alexander and Andrew Sheridan are simultaneously violently alive and poignantly delicate… heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny moments.”
★★★★ Exeunt Magazine
“It’s surprising and acute… Maia Alexander and Andrew Sheridan – both excellent.”
The Times (Paywall)
“A poignancy nicely curbed by humour.”
★★★★ Sunday Times
“Payne’s writing remains sympathetic, humane and funny… a serious talent.”
★★★★ Time Out
“This deft and moving triptych is beautifully played.”
★★★★ Whatsonstage.com
PRAISE FOR LUNGS
Kate O'Flynn and Alistair Cope in LUNGS by Duncan Macmillan
“Subtle, intelligent environment drama that quietly socks you in the guts.”
★★★★ Time Out
“There is greatness in here. Macmillan depicts betrayals big and small with a sometimes stunning, often uncomfortable grasp of the way we love now… Richard Wilson’s superb, propless production .”
The Times (Paywall)
“Go. Lungs is great. One of the best new plays I’ve seen in the last few years.”
Culture Wars
“Kate O’Flynn gives a virtuoso comic performance.”
★★★★ Whatsonstage.com
“A startling pas de deux.”
★★★★ Sunday Times
“Macmillan’s exquisite and highly comic look at love with a debilitating social consciousness…the very funny Alistair Cope.”
British Theatre Guide
“Macmillan’s writing is undeniably on the money.”
★★★★ Exeunt Magazine
“Richard Wilson’s production matches the thrillingly fluid structure of the piece, and Macmillan’s script – all nervy half lines and brittle fragments – is astonishingly assured.”
The Guardian
“Duncan Macmillan soars giddily… Kate O’Flynn beautifully mixes killer comments, beaming smiles and shattering vulnerability.”
★★★★ Evening Standard
PRAISE FOR THE SOUND OF HEAVY RAIN
Kate O'Flynn and Andrew Sheridan in THE SOUND OF HEAVY RAIN
“Skinner delivers some killer one-liners… Andrew Sheridan gives an outstanding performance.”
★★★★ Exeunt Magazine
“James Grieve’s smoky production… something completely different: a Chandleresque mystery thriller.”
★★★★ Whatsonstage.com
“Beneath its teasing surface, it focuses on the illusions of love and intimacy…like all Skinner’s work, it has a sharp comic edge.”
The Guardian
“James Grieve’s production makes strategic use of smoke, lights and Miles Davis to transform modern London into a noir playground.”
The Times (Paywall)
“Great fun… a hoot.”
★★★★ Time Out (Print edition only)
“Intelligent fun.”
The Daily Telegraph
You can buy tickets for all three Roundabout Season plays here.
