" 'A Woman Walks into a Bank; is a blazing production, rammed with pathos, humour and a fabulously comedic cat."
Read more
"A cartoonish, completely superfluous subplot, described from the point of view of the old woman’s languid, snarky cat Sally, is amusing but only pads out the already overstretched story."
Read more
"Emotional connection isn’t always possible when the structure and presentation are so cartoonish but still, this is an atmospheric, unusual evening, enriched by tremendous performances."
Read more
“The play is too long at pushing two and a half hours...What does set Cook apart from many contemporaries is the depth of her characterisation, each of the two men and one woman vividly written and sensitively portrayed by the fine cast. She also embraces the opportunity to tackle big social issues without their weight driving the story.”
Read more
“It is a sad and deeply relatable story of a country which is stuck, and a people who seem to be repeatedly falling into the same traps again and again...and that living in Russia really is like living in perma-crisis with crime rife, aspirations low, a struggling economy and working people being taken advantage of...Primarily it feels as though living and watching this production today, in Britain, in November 2023, that story feels a lot more relatable than perhaps we’d like it to be.”
Read more
“ ‘A Woman Walks Into A Bank’ is a frustrating piece of theatre that exposes the human cost of financial systems run amok and the anti-climactic nature of modern life, leaving a lingering sense of unease.”
Read more
" 'A Woman Walks into a Bank' is a well-rounded production, but it could achieve a more resonant payoff for the audience by refining narrative tension. Addressing the role of the Debt Collector and exploring the emotional depth of the story might elevate the overall impact of the play."
Read more
“There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe.”
Read more