Walden London Reviews and Tickets

85%

(2 Ratings)

Positive

100%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Relevant, Intense, Absorbing, Thought-provoking

About the Show

Two-time Olivier Award nominee Gemma Arterton stars in Amy Berryman's bold debut play.

Cassie is a NASA botanist who lives in a remote cabin after returning from a mission on the moon. When she's reunited with her estranged sister, Stella, old wounds are reopened as they both confront their past. Ian Rickson (Jerusalem, Uncle Vanya) directs Amy Berryman's new play about familial love and the climate crisis. Starring Gemma Arterton (Made in Dagenham), Fehinti Balogun (The Importance of Being Earnest) and Lydia Wilson (The Duchess of Malfi). The show is part of the Sonia Friedman Productions' RE:EMERGE season of plays which celebrates new voices and diverse talent.

Show-Score Member Reviews (2)

Intense, Absorbing, Great acting, Relevant, Thought-provoking

See it if You are interested in themes that are timely and political and like family-centred dramas

Don't see it if You don't like futuristic slightly dystopian stories

Clever, Great acting, Entertaining

See it if -

Don't see it if -

Critic Reviews (9)

[Walden] is not a great play. But it is ambitious, engaged on many fronts, and forward looking in a way that’s rare for theatre: I’m always surprised how little sci-fi gets on stage.
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Amy Berryman’s intelligent, soulful drama...original play of ideas that takes in everything from the ethics of space endeavour to climate activism and the pull between duty, ambition and desire.
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The piece crams a lot into 90 minutes and doesn’t achieve complete lift-off. Ian Rickson (who directed the Vanya) musters an appealing air of wooded seclusion but the make-or-break reunion calls for a touch more tension, less soothing birdsong.
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Walden is an apocalyptic vision that sometimes comes close to turning into a well-intentioned lecture.
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Walden is a play full of interesting ideas...it compels with the strength and complexity of both its plot and its thoughts...In the end, however, it gets bogged down with the weight of its own arguments.
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In a 105-minute play packed with ideas, the central conflict about humanity’s future is well articulated...What this play needs to lift off is a booster rocket. As it is, it’s good, but unexceptional.
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The play knits together a number of interesting and pertinent threads: about humankind’s responsibility to the world, but also about individuality and genetics, and the American thirst for expansion.
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Walden shows a lot of promise for a new writer on the scene, as this marks Berryman’s debut, and I’m excited to see what she does next and how she grows as a storyteller from here.
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Trailer

Creative team