★★★★

“a highly watchable cast, delivering line after line of snappy dialogue”

Katherine Moar’s “Ragdoll” is inspired by the trial of Patty Hearst – the heiress turned actress, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s who was later convicted of working with them and being charged for armed robbery. Her defence lawyer, Francis Lee Bailey, lost the case despite putting forward the fact that she was coerced into it by her captors. Although the names have been changed, there is little to separate the fictional characters from the real-life ones (even the SLA is namedropped). So ‘inspired by’ is probably an understatement. The disguise is a very thin veil. There is no disguising at all, however, the sharpness of Moar’s writing in her thoughtful, thought-provoking, ingeniously structured and punchy new play.

The narrative is split between two pivotal points in the lives of our protagonists. In the late seventies, Holly (Katie Matsell) is awaiting trial for her role in the armed robberies. Her hotshot lawyer, Robert (Ben Lamb) sees it as a case to project his career into the major league. There is a lot of media attention, some of it unwanted and unwarranted. Robert has his own distractions, too, mainly in the shape of a hack journalist out to smear his name. We first meet the couple in the present day. They are estranged by now, but Robert (Nathaniel Parker) is calling in a favour from Holly (Abigail Cruttenden), hoping she can bear witness to his character and help clear him of allegations of an ‘inappropriate nature’. Holly is naturally resentful – having been ghosted and abandoned by Robert decades earlier. We are aghast at Robert’s confidence that borders on arrogance. Tensions and stakes are high, and emotions rise even higher, tempered by moments during which Moar leads us gently into ‘odd-couple’ comedy territory.

We never drift into familiar territory, however. Even if sometimes we think we might be heading that way. Whenever that happens, Moar repeatedly sticks the knife in with a twist, forcing us to look at things in a different way. The two time periods are separated, until further twists reveal how great and significant the overlap is between past and present. A fascinating dramatic device is at play here, which the cast pull off masterfully.

The characters are undoubtedly privileged but are played with a compassion that arouses our sympathy. Matsell’s nervous idealism as the younger Holly turns into the fury and resignation that Cruttenden portrays with a bubbling, volcanic strength. Lamb, as the rising star of the courtroom, hasn’t yet had his smooth confidence worn away by the knocks to his career, while Parker’s present-day Robert, however, clings onto this self-conviction by a thread. They are both victims in a way. Victims of changing times and attitudes as much as circumstance. “If I had died, people would like me more” quips Holly in retrospect, thankfully without sentimentality. Josh Seymour directs with a tight hand on the oscillating structure: the actors watching their other selves, engaging and reacting. Ceci Calf’s simple set, strewn with packing cases, is dominated by an expensive, cream leather sofa, rich in symbolism.

This is only Moar’s second play, but the dialogue has a veteran’s finely-honed shrewdness and insight, offering peep holes into social history as well as the human condition. Its context is specific, but the questions raised are far reaching. With a highly watchable cast, delivering line after line of snappy dialogue, “Ragdoll” is an absolute joy to watch. We barely have time to think about what we are supposed to be thinking about – there’s time to do that on the tube journey home. We know, though, that we have been in the presence of a writing talent to keep an eye out for.

LORD OF THE FLIES

Chichester Festival Theatre

★★★

“It grips with urgency at its best, drifts and confuses at its weakest”

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies remains one of the most unsettling explorations of human behaviour. Nigel Williams’s 1995 stage adaptation brings the novel’s familiar story of boys stranded on an island into sharp relief, and Anthony Lau’s new production reframes it through stripped-back staging and a series of meta-theatrical touches. The result is uneven, at times thrilling, at others frustrating but never without interest.

The evening begins not with the boys’ arrival but with two stagehands hoovering the bare stage. When the house manager hands Piggy (Alfie Jallow) a sheet of trigger warnings to read aloud, the fourth wall is already gone. It is a playful yet unsettling opening, reminding the audience of the artifice before the story has even begun. Georgia Lowe’s set is pared back to black flight cases representing the trunks that fell from the sky when the boys’ plane crashed. The backstage area is exposed, also painted black, with rubber mats stretched across the thrust. There is no attempt to suggest a lush island, beautiful but dangerous. Instead the stage feels stark, industrial and alien.

The soundscape by Giles Thomas is striking, shifting from pounding music that vibrates through the auditorium to complete silence. In these moments the boys’ breathing and the hum of the lights are uncomfortably audible. Matt Daw’s lighting alternates between dazzling brightness, exposing every detail, and shadowed moments that heighten tension and allow the boys’ fear, viciousness and isolation to take hold. Fire is represented by hand-held smoke machines, a simple but effective image.

At the centre of the story are five more developed characters: Ralph (Sheyi Cole, making his professional debut), Piggy, Jack (Tucker St Ivany), Roger (Cal O’Driscoll) and Simon (Ali Hadji-Heshmati). The rest of the company blend into their factions, slipping convincingly between roles as loyalists and hunters. The cast vary in age, all young adults, some more convincing as schoolboys than others. Jack, used to the discipline and authority of the choir, is played with an edge of entitlement, contrasting with Ralph’s more open leadership and Piggy’s marginalised intelligence.

The decision to cast both Ralph and Piggy with Black actors adds a further social dimension, sharpening the sense of exclusion Piggy experiences and subtly shifting the class divide already present in Golding’s story. Jallow is exceptional, capturing both wit and vulnerability, anchoring the play’s moral weight. His awkwardness and honesty make him deeply affecting, and his distinct costume marks him out as different, reinforcing his insecurity. Hadji-Heshmati’s quiet collapse in Act Two, left alone with his fractured thoughts, provides one of the most powerful acting moments of the evening.

Lau’s direction keeps the energy high but sometimes at the expense of clarity. The use of house lights, scene changes in full view, and the cast announcing acts underline the theatrical frame. At times this feels fresh, but it also distances the audience from the emotional heart of the story. The production reaches its peak at the end of Act Two with Simon’s death. Staged with intensity and haunting imagery, it captures the chaos of the boys’ descent into violence. Here the stripped-back design, movement (Aline David) and fight direction (Bethan Clark) come together with real force, creating a sequence that is both shocking and unforgettable. Not all effects are as successful. A piñata, intended to represent the pig, once bashed by the boys spills sweets in a way that feels inconsistent with the production’s stripped-back design and stark atmosphere. Where Simon’s fate resonates, other symbolic choices jar, leaving the evening uneven in tone.

Too often the pacing falters. Scenes stretch, direction loses focus and the power dissipates. Themes and emotional beats become repetitive. The second death, though still disturbing, does not match the earlier high point.

This Lord of the Flies has moments of brilliance, particularly in its sound, its bold design choices and in Jallow’s performance, but the whole is inconsistent. It grips with urgency at its best, drifts and confuses at its weakest.

RAGDOLL

Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★★

“a highly watchable cast, delivering line after line of snappy dialogue”

RAGDOLL

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 14th October 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

RAGDOLL

RAGDOLL

RAGDOLL

LORD OF THE FLIES

Chichester Festival Theatre

★★★

“It grips with urgency at its best, drifts and confuses at its weakest”

LORD OF THE FLIES

Chichester Festival Theatre

Reviewed on 30th September 2025

by Ellen Cheshire

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LORD OF THE FLIES

LORD OF THE FLIES

LORD OF THE FLIES

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