The Confessions
66%
66%
(4 Ratings)
Positive
50%
Mixed
25%
Negative
25%
Members say
Great acting, Absorbing, Confusing, Dull, Masterful

About the Show

Alexander Zeldin's new play exploring his relationship with his mother, based on interviews with her.

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Critic Reviews (11)

The London Evening Standard
October 25th, 2023

“...maybe this is a truly biographical nugget in a play that blends life and art into something captivating.”
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The Guardian (UK)
October 24th, 2023

“It is hard to pin this profoundly moving play down to its depths. It is a piece of alchemy and an expression of love.”
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The Times (UK)
October 24th, 2023

“Zeldin, who directs, invites us to ponder the artificiality of theatre and the unreliability of memory.”
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WhatsOnStage
October 24th, 2023

“The entire endeavour serves as a reminder of just how extraordinary an ordinary life can be but also of the magical story-telling nature of theatre itself, the way it can take one person’s experience and forge it into a tale for the ages, a collective fable of self-realisation and hope.”
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The Stage (UK)
October 23rd, 2023

“Zeldin’s direction is dynamic, using split-second reconfigurations of the set to give rapidly passing scenes the fluidity of overlapping memories. Much of the naturalistic dialogue is delivered in a breathless rush of competing voices...But there are moments of perfect silence and complete stillness, too, stretching pauses that powerfully underline the most significant moments of Alice’s life...Eryn Jean Norvill gives an extraordinary performance as Alice”
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Time Out London
October 24th, 2023

“This is a play that reflects life’s great tragedies, everyday aches and excruciating losses. But, though Alice’s journey is difficult and netted with hurt, Zeldin’s script never demands sympathy. This is simply a presentation of one existence, albeit so beautifully crafted it can’t help but sting.”
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The Arts Desk
October 25th, 2023

“The play was inspired by Zeldin’s elderly mother’s “confessions” to him in 2020, suddenly spilling out all her hidden life to him in a recording. He has fashioned it into a fine, uplifting tribute that portrays the heroism of “ordinary” people with a warm wit and breadth of understanding.”
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London Theatre
October 24th, 2023

“It’s an intense piece of work but there is humour (especially in the evening class student archetypes). It ends abruptly but at just under two hours long and performed without an interval and spanning decades, it is compelling throughout in its telling of the story of an ‘ordinary’ woman whose life and achievements have been anything but.”
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