Grief Is The Thing With Feathers

for a previous production "Walsh’s superb adaptation of Porter’s heart-rending novella...Frightening, exhilarating, powerful, and irresistible...Remaining faithful to Porter’s original text, writer and director Enda Walsh still exerts his own considerable presence, with strong and subtle flourishes translating Porter’s textual energy into a formidable theatrical energy for the stage...A master class in theatrical excellence, showing near flawless levels of precision, execution, and split second timing." Full Review

for a previous production "Walsh’s vigorous production is unafraid of incoherence, moving as if through swathes of irreducible despair. What gradually comes into focus is the heartrending picture of a household in mourning...Walsh translated repression into strikingly kinetic images...A verbally absurdist quality. That makes the script’s abrupt leaps into other narratives feel fitting...It’s immensely satisfying – then it all sobers up for the ending. Murphy is flawless in this electric production." Full Review

for a previous production "The collage effect is brilliantly achieved technically but at times seems overblown. In the ambitious attempt to find a theatrical analogue for Porter’s formal experimentation on the page, some emotional impact is lost, with the vulnerable figures of Dad and the boys swamped by the hi-tech dazzle. While Porter’s poetic text is emphasised something of its spirit and tone, its sheer strangeness and wild humour, remains elusive." Full Review

for a previous production "Walsh’s adaptation is faithful to Porter’s original text and is at its most affecting when Murphy and his sweet-faced boys are alone and disconnected in their chaotic flat...The overall emotional impact of the piece is somewhat diminished by Crow’s plummy, weirdly distorted basso profondo delivery. There is, too, a risk of sensory overkill...The deployment of tiny details partially corrects the imbalance." Full Review

for a previous production "Walsh's ambitious, striking, but unsatisfactory stage adaptation of Max Porter's 2016 novel...Walsh's oblique script, emblazoned with his trademark frenetic energy, ritual, and cheesy 1980's music, is realised through a cocktail of Helen Atkinson's immersive, pitiless soundscape and Will Duke's stunning projection design...But the production's strengths are also its weaknesses...The visual effects...overpower the story. This sense is only accentuated by Walsh's uneven direction." Full Review