Raine, N. directs with a clear-sighted vision which keeps a flowing energy throughout the piece which cleverly uses the corridors around the intimate stage to suggest the claustrophobia of this living arrangement. And Raine, M. combines the political with the personal beautifully, never better than when Godfrey’s Alexander explains to Alex Large’s blithely unaware Thomas exactly why his ironic Soviet logo t-shirt is anything but. It’s an aching piece of writing that speaks from the heart, encapsulating both the mess that Russia was and has still been left in by self-serving administrations.
Diveney's Sasha best represents this frustration, her generation feeling the pain perhaps the most as what once looked like a bright future grows ever dimmer. She also masters the linguistic challenge of the play excellently - when the Russians speak to each other they have no accent but when they speak English to Thomas it is with a heavy Russian inflection, a simple device but one which works wonders in Diveney's talented hands. Alongside her, Nottingham's stoic mother, Musgrave's draft-dodging Petya and Bruni's enigmatic Natalia also impress in a clever, funny (finally, a great Facebook joke) and moving piece of drama. Book now.