“Holcroft’s witty satire is an exuberant experience if you surrender to its looping structure, which does pay off smartly in a big climactic reveal. Yet one of its internal debates – whether art should reflect messy reality or should be an inspiring or escapist experience – comes to apply to ’A Mirror.’ It’s so issue-led that it almost feels more like a staged essay than a drama.”
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“’A Mirror’ struggles to conjure the weight it wants to. An interesting story is shattered to bits by gimmicky meta-theatricality. If ’A Mirror’ looks into a mirror, it is only to naval gaze, not to tell its story...But sadly all ‘A Mirror’ can do is pose at being the real thing. For a theatrical dystopia, this is Orwell that doesn’t end well.”
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“Rarely have I been simultaneously so thrilled and infuriated by a play. Sam Holcroft’s arch comedy about a playwright navigating an authoritarian regime is a beautifully crafted, mind-bending piece of work.”
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“It’s a mordantly funny comedy about the essential moral vacuousness of censorship. And it’s dispatched with great wit in a puckish production from Jeremy Herrin – it’s safe to say the we’re-pretending-we’re-at-a-wedding conceit resurfaces - with an excellent cast.”
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“Sam Holcroft’s new play ‘A Mirror’ is bold, inventive and original. It is also annoying and a bit messy around the edges. I loved it, but felt I could not, admired it, yet was irritated by some of its qualities.”
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"Like the play as a whole, it is an electrifying reminder that protest comes in many forms, and that artistic expression remains a powerful tool for challenging oppressors."
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"This play is an achievement: like nothing else you’ll see on London’s stages, full of the kind of meta-theatrical self-awareness that’ll thrill the artsy in-crowd without alienating everyone else. And, if you’ll excuse the cliche, it’ll leave you with much to reflect on."
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“What I can say is this is an amazing piece of theatre. Remarkable in its execution and distinctly different to anything else that is out there, this production took a risk that paid off completely, leaving me with an unforgettable experience. ‘A Mirror’ really is smashing!”
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