Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for the Royal Court Theatre’s production of Ellie Kendrick’s debut play. 

Broadway World: *** “Despite being a spectacle, the drama is pretty simple and not as exhilarating as you would expect from such an impressive performance collective.”

The Times: ** “We get the idea behind Ellie Kendrick’s debut play pretty quickly, even if nobody could second-guess the wild ways in which this feminist cabaret goes on to illustrate it.”

The Stage: *** “It’s a riotous, ragged, wild thing with the glimmer of magnificence among its flailing and its flaws.”

WhatsOnStage: *** “That’s the case for many of the ideas in the play. They come across as dazzling in Goalen and Greenland’s vision for the show – a vision well supported by the witty interactions between Emily Legg’s sound design, Williams’s lighting cues and Trémolières’ surprising sequence of costumes – but stand up less well under more rigorous examination.”

British Theatre.com: **** “Hole defies conventional forms and easy definitions, a bold, provocative rebel yell that is acutely relevant in the age of #MeToo and debates over male power.”

The Telegraph: ** “a persistent and fatal whiff of indulgence, and that distinct tang of self- righteousness that is ultimately always excluding rather than inclusive.”

The Reviews Hub: *** “All in all, this is a deeply interesting and pertinent piece, but one that could perhaps benefit from a slightly narrower focus or a more direct take on its subject matter.”

A Younger Theatre: “While the text itself is jumpy and disjointed, the creative team are rousingly successful at ensuring that the w-Hole production works as one coherent piece.”

The Upcoming: ** ” For better or worse, directors Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen have given the production their signature RashDash flair, though here it’s very much a case of style over substance. There just isn’t enough of anything, the play starting to slip from the mind as soon as you step back out onto Sloane Square.”

Time Out: *** “I spent the duration of ‘Hole’ increasingly nagged by the feeling that the direction was fantastic and the text was not. Kendrick’s words undoubtedly have their moments – a vivid sequence sympathising with the Medusa sticks in the mind. But they don’t really have much discernible cumulative power or through-thread, and ‘Hole’ feels maddeningly diffuse.”

The Plays the Thing: “Kendrick’s writing, though, has real potential, particularly evident in her re-interpretations of classical mythology. Yet, she’s just not clear enough about what she wants to say about being a woman today; we’re all more than just angry.” 

Evening Standard: *** “Although it is impossible to fault the gender politics, Ellie Kendrick’s work is not always an easy watch, as it slides from fierce feminism to far harder-to-follow physics.”

The Metro: ** “But when a giant fur-lined hole opens up, and tulle-clad figures crawl from it, you begin to wonder if the directors are using visual theatricality to distract from the threadbare script.”

British Theatre Guide: “If nothing else, they will see what must rank as the ultimate response to the constant complaint that the theatre industry is run and controlled by men.”

Hole continues to play at the Royal Court Theatre until the 12th January 2019. For more information visit: https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/hole/