We round up the reviews for this world premiere production starring Niamh Cusack and Shannon Hayes.
WhatsOnStage: *** “Switching between roles, embodying men, women and even children, both Cusack and Hayes are riveting too, their command of the verse matched by an easy-shape shifting into different parts. Hayes is particularly wonderful as Persephone, with a kind of child-like wildness; Cusack is both sinister (as Medea’s male tormentor) and compelling, as this compendium of love and loss tugs us towards its meaning.”
The Guardian: ** “A seven-part monologue cycle set in the modern day, it features the notorious – and notoriously wronged – women of Euripidean tragedy: Medea, Phaedra, Hypsipyle, Persephone, Demeter, Alcestis and Creusa. Their stories include rape, kidnap and murder, and centre on maternal pain and loss. But the pathos and intensity in Teevan’s script is lost on the stage, rendered overly stylised and emotionally absent.”
The Stage: *** “A poetic and moving retelling of seven women from Euripides that’s a feast for the eyes.”
The Times: ** “The allusions to the classical world are tenuous, however, and even a charismatic performance from Niamh Cusack, appearing alongside the younger Shannon Hayes, can’t help us to find our way out of the labyrinth of words”
The Telegraph: ** “Niamh Cusack and Shannon Hayes both shine, but the Rose Theatre Kingston’s new drama – a reimagining of Euripides – is hit and myth.”
Broadway World: ** “There is much potential in this production; the exploration of maternal pain and struggle is made very real, but the frenzied action and lack of depth to the stories makes it ultimately frustrating.”
The Seven Pomegranate Seeds continues to play at the Rose Theatre until the 20th November.