Review:
Wertenbaker has searched history and found in it a humanistic lesson for hard modern times: rough, sombre, undogmatic and warm The Sunday Times Highly theatrical, often funny and at times dark and disturbing, it sets an infant civilization on the stage with clarity, economy and insight -- Charles Spencer Daily Telegraph Wertenbaker's play remains terrifyingly relevant ... Wertenbaker scarcely puts a foot wrong. She ... expands the argument about the practical wisdom of putting on a play into a wider debate about crime and punishment and, when an actor-convict on the eve of hanging breaks her self-incriminating vow of silence, movingly demonstrates the power of drama to change minds. -- Michael Billington Guardian Bursting with humanity, humour, heartache and passion ... [a] moving celebration of the power of drama to change lives for the good. -- Charles Spencer Telegraph Makes a trenchant and uplifting case for the transformative power of theatre ... Wertenbaker's play is unashamedly idealistic but it's not sentimental ... it emphasises ... how a theatrical production can offer a microcosmic image of liberating self-transcendence and true community. -- Paul Taylor Independent An instant modern classic ... [a] rich, warm play, with its impassioned advocacy of the humanising power of art ... a playful but profound piece of theatre: didactic, yet complex; angry, yet charged with hope ... a modern masterpiece. -- Sarah Hemming Financial Times
About the Author:
Timberlake Wertenbaker was born in France and was Resident Writer for 'Shared Experience' in 1983 and the Royal Court Theatre 1984-85. She is best known for her play Our Country's Good (1988), based on the novel The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally. First performed at the Royal Court in 1988, it was awarded the Laurence Olivier/BBC Award for Best New Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play and was nominated for six 'Tonies'.
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