“ ‘Cuckoo’ is alarming, to be sure, and highly entertaining too.”
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“The family dynamic is wonderfully enchanting, the bittersweet chemistry palpable from the outset thanks to subtle but towering performances...It will remind you of a very literal home truth: that family is the ballast we tie ourselves to whatever the storms that life throws at us. It can weigh us down but without it we would be lost.”
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Cuckoo catches the zeitgeist of the moment in a classically theatrical living room drama style. It hits all the funny bones and is performed with true expertise
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“This show is about the unsaid. It is an incredibly thought-provoking piece that ensures the audience feels what the characters are experiencing. I recommend going to watch it if you’re into dark humour and social commentary, although do read the trigger warnings provided on the Royal Court’s website in advance.”
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“While it’s totally fair that Wynne doesn’t opt for a sudden late shift into melodrama, I was left fairly frustrated by the wilfully understated, largely silent ending, which hints at various resolutions but never fully embraces any of them. The kitchen sink format begs an explosive climax and without it, ‘Cuckoo’ feels robbed of something – it’s a distant rumble of thunder, a storm that never breaks.”
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“Wynne’s domestic affair finally feels too slight to sound the depths of our current malaise. Diverting as a summer filler, it still smacks of an opportunity wasted.”
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“Baffling. That’s the only word to describe Michael Wynne’s play...I kept waiting for something to happen. But hardly anything does.”
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“Michael Wynne’s new play, set in his beloved Birkenhead, gives us recognisably working-class figures who spend the opening minutes eating fish and chips in the living room. Not a great leap forward in dramaturgy, I admit, but it’s better than being subjected to yet another sophomoric political lecture.”
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