3 Winters

Sophie Rundle & Jodie McNee - independent

'3 Winters' has endured a barrage of good reviews being considered a 'subtle epic' by TimeOut, but having spent 2hrs 40mins in the theatre, I left just as indifferent as when I arrived. The official National Theatre rating for it was 3 stars, Though I'd knock that back to two.

Siobhan Finneran - lovetheatre.com

Credit where credit's due, Jodie McNee as Alisa was full of energy and kept the audience's attention through opinionated insults towards her sister, Lucia (Sophie Rundle) and verbal attacks on political views of her father (Rawlins). Siobhan Finneran as the mother was great on stage too; tired facial expressions that said it all, comedy moments that were played out so perfectly as to suggest the growing annoyance and banter between husband and wife over the years. She was also wonderful to watch when looking after her elderly father (Laurenson). She managed the motherly position better than I have ever seen on stage. Certainly tops Brendan Coyle's performance in Mojo last year! Although on-stage husband, Adrian Rawlins, did not act with any particular conviction. It was more saying lines than acting them. 

Susan Engel & James Laurenson - dailymail

Susan Engel was among the best, as was her younger self played by Hermione Gulliford. They captured the mentality of a woman who has been locked away for all of her life as well as capturing her class in being brought up as a lady. Karolina, feels no sense of entitlement, having sent Marsha and her mother to the streets to live. But now, she is sorry and spends the next 66yrs becoming friends with Marsha's mother and living alongside as part of the Kos family. Lucy Black as Dunya with Dunya when acting alongside Charlotte Beaumont as the younger Lucia were joyous to watch as Beaumont captured the energy and excitement of a young child with a polaroid camera. Sibling rivalry was rife and it made the early years entertaining to watch. Although entertainment, or anything else, seemed to lack from the rest of the play.

3 Winters - NationalTheatre

The tale was dry. It lacked a point. It was simply a story that I felt had no purpose and therefore just didn't need to be told. It half-heartedly made a statement about hierarchy, class and entitlement but never really arrived at the point. What was it we were supposed to learn? That entitlement is false, that hypocrisy is rife or that countries prone to revolution are almost certain to face a conflict of interest and of values?

There was no resolution. I think that's my issue. The characters just went their own way which left us waiting for something to happen. And it never did. Alisa left one way and Lucia got married and went the other. What lessons were learned, we will never know.

To hand it to them, the cast did good with what they had, but they didn't have a lot to begin with.