★★★★☆ The production is conceived as a communal trip, an Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, with a bunch of late-sixties hedonists deciding to ‘do’ the play somebody had left lying around. It is a clever device, which nicely sets up the inspired pick ‘n’ mix casting. The resulting ‘trip’ delivers a burlesque on love, desire, gender-identity, class and self-deceit.

★★★★★ Touching the Void dramatizes the autobiographical account of Joe Simpson’s near fatal experience during the climb of the Siula Grande mountain. As with most real life stories where ultimate death is averted the trick is in driving the pace and tension so that the outcome is still kept uncertain. This production provides heart stopping moments along with shovelfuls of snow and ice.

★★★★☆ Bernard Pomerance’s play premiered over forty years ago and since then it has garnered many awards, though some critics have been distinctly unhappy about one of its key features. Unlike the well-known movie starring John Hurt it requires no prosthetic make-up for its lead role.

★★★★☆ The themes are perfect for our time, dealing with the purity of democracy in a world of ambiguity as politicians and victims of a Civil War come to terms with what peace and reconciliation mean when combined with ongoing power struggles and the basic need to feed the people.