A Mirror

by Sam Holcroft

104 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2024

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5, rounded up.

I wasn't crazy about the other two plays by Holcroft I'd read - but this is f-ing brilliant! The way the play keeps evolving and undermining what you THINK is going on makes for some riveting theatrics. My one qualm is that the middle section tends to bog down with the performance of two different versions of a war play that goes on a bit too long. Wish I could have seen the premiere production at the Almeida, which just recently closed. At a time when the US's own orange menace is threatening to build 'camps' for his enemies, this is a potent reminder how we MUST fight totalitarianism and fascism now more than ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP8W1...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG_hL...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIrMZ...

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
https://www.ft.com/content/4c191834-8...
https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/a-m...
https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/th...
https://www.timeout.com/london/theatr...
https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend...
https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/revie...

[Tegan Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might change my mind after a few days of it marinating in my head, but for now it is 4 stars just because 1. I'm bitter I couldn't see it at the Almeida, and 2. there were too many men talking in it. But I would absolutely recommend giving this a read - it's equal parts gritty, frightening, desperate, incredibly tense, tender, humourous, with moments of suffocated passion bubbling under the surface. The boil over is incredibly rewarding.

[Archie · Rating 5 out of 5]

a play within a play within a wedding within a play
brilliant loved watching it and then reading it now