Martin Crimp: Plays 3

Book excerpt: Cruel and Tender 'A mordantly knowing modernisation of Sophocles's Trachiniae... . The approach here manages to be at once lethally level and capable of surges of anguished feeling... Highly recommended.' Independent Fewer Emergencies 'A triptych of vicious modern fairy tales that brings the nightmare right back and stabs you through the soul.' Guardian The City 'Although this is the most disquieting play in London, there is a curious exhilaration about both the performance and Crimp's confrontation with our perpetual unease.' Guardian Definitely the Bahamas 'A summation of a life lived vicariously, at the margins of other lives, between suffocating suburban walls; and the play is as unflinching as it is unnerving.' The Times Play House ' Play House concerns the volatility and vulnerability of love, as a young couple, Simon and Katrina set up home... Unusually for Crimp, the play both begins and ends with moving declarations of love. Suddenly this usually chilly dramatist seems unexpectedly blessed with a warm heart.' Daily Telegraph In the Republic of Happiness 'Crimp goes so far as to call it "an entertainment in three parts," and it rocks along like a dystopian vaudeville... The actors are imprisoned and liberated at once, their strange between-worlds condition a source of joy, intemperateness and above all a care for our diversion... My favourite play of the year.' What's on Stage