The Low Road

What the popular press had to say...

" The play is overlong and its gibes sometimes misfire. What's more, the production doesn't feel properly in its groove — though that should change as the run goes on. It's vivacious and mischievous, yet often heavy-handed. And the screwy ending is completely misjudged."
Henry Hitchings for The Evening Standard

"It would be too simple to say Norris is offering a diatribe against capitalism; what he shows is how the US, for all its good intentions, has tended, when confronted by divergent paths, to take the low road of profitability rather than the high road of principle. But this does scant justice to a play that is rich, turbulent and satirical, not least in a Davos-style debate about the current economic crisis. Cooke's production, ingeniously designed by Tom Pye, also offers a cornucopia of good performances."
Michael Billington for The Guardian

"Whole of the first half and the rest of the second are costume drama set in 18th century America, involving some twenty actors...We are meant to see how little our thinking about justice, slavery, philanthropy has evolved. But while the gamely performed by a spirited cast, it is wearisomely effortful and fails either to tell you much that is new or make you reconsider what you know in the light of capers with context. "
Paul Taylor for The Independent

"This is an enjoyable evening that may be too didactic for some tastes, and too simplistic for others."
Aleks Sierz for The Stage

"Cooke's production, with its prostitutes, English Redcoats and a narrative that constantly takes off in unexpected directions - not least with a sudden time shift into the 21st century - has a terrific swagger and dash about it...The play loses its way in a disappointing second half that by the end has become frankly risible. And the play's condemnation of heartless tooth-and-claw capitalism seems glib. "
Charles Spencer for The Daily Telegraph