Reviews
“Sparks fly spectacularly in this drama by the American writer Catherine Trieschmann. A scorching production by Des Kennedy, winner of Out of Joint’s Directing Award, sends stars and meteors streaming across the ceiling as a pregnant biology teacher who has offended small-town creationists begins to fear for her own survival and that of her unborn child. The play is gripping, disturbing and relevant. And is acted with ferocity… Trieschmann’s writing is taut and laced with irony… The performances are terrific, with pallid, blazing-eyed Perry Millward especially compelling”
Sam Marlowe, The Times
“A lovely piece… deserves full houses throughout the run.”
British Theatre Guide
“Catherine Trieschmann’s gripping three-hander… The cleverness of this piece – snappily directed by Des Kennedy with an effective design by Alyson Cummins – is that its central drama is not about science versus creationism, but about faith and faithlessness, the gap between east-coast liberalism and small-town America, and about the way we dismiss other people’s points of view. As soon as we hear the belief, we cease to see the person… Anna Francolini is superb as the well-meaning but inexperienced teacher; Perry Millward is her match as the brooding Micah, and Ciaran McIntyre takes all his chances as local busybody, Gene, a man who offers pie and the suggestion that fossils are simply God’s way of testing our faith.”
The Guardian
“There is a thrumming undercurrent of menace to How The World Began… A thought-worm of a play to be mulled over hours after the applause has stopped”
Whatsonstage.com
“Tightly written… Engaging… The play’s central question of how one should (or shouldn’t) deal with people whose beliefs contradict one’s own, and how education has a crucial role to play in equipping people to talk about these contradictions, is extremely relevant… Of course, if you actually want to know how the world began then this play won’t help – but it will raise many interesting points along the way.”
AYoungerTheatre
“All the precision and thrill of a courtroom drama… Intelligent empathy and dispassionate observation… Excellently directed by Des Kennedy… Utterly convincing.”
The Arts Desk
Related media
20 Questions with Anna Francolini
Whatsonstage.com
“Scientists demand tougher guidelines on the teaching of creationism in schools”
Guardian, 19 Sep 2011
Responses from the World Premiere in California:
“Gripping. You won’t stop talking about How The World Began
until long after its final fadeout” StageSceneLA“Compelling. Thought-provoking. A school-room battle of wits.” LA Examiner
“Quietly menacing” LA Times
“You’ll be richer for the experience. Theatre at its finest” StarPulse