Plasticine

Written by Vassily Sigarev, Translated by Sasha Dugdale
Directed: Dominic Cooke
Producer: Royal Court / Genesis Foundation
Starring:Michael Legge, Daniel Cerqueira, Bryan Dick, Matthew Dunster, Molly Innes, Liz Kettle, Mary Macleod, John Rogan, Russell Tovey, Myfanwy Waring, Liz White.
Story: In a faceless city in the Urals a young boy dies. Women in the street are drunk, fight and ask for sex. Teenage Maksim makes his way through this corrupt world and is at one moment drawn in and the next repelled. His only escape is to retreat into a private world moulded by himself.

This play has received reasonable notices from the popular press...... PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT says, "A superb promenade production by Dominic Cooke that is of such pulverising physicality that the phrase "in your face" feels too wimpish and sedate to describe it." THE OBSERVER says, "A play that persuasively combines documentary robustness with speedy wildness." MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GAURDIAN says, With its cinematic grope-ins, hectic wedding parties and street chaos, the production's bustling commotion tends to dominate the text....But the overwhelming impression is of an urban nightmare lacking social definition." BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES says, "I've seen some dour pieces in my time, but few to match his portrait of a poor kid en route from the dumps to the doldrums and beyond." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says it is a "brilliant production". NICHOLAS DE JONGH for THE EVENING STANDARD says," Impressive and disturbing howl of a play..." SARAH HEMMING for THE FINANCIAL TIMES says, "It's a shocking portrait of a society where no-one can afford to care and where, if you slip through the net, you are lost."

External links to full reviews from newspapers...

Evening Standard
The Guardian
The Independent
The Times
The Observer
Financial Times