“...this country’s enormous Polish population has little visibility in popular culture, and I feel there was an opportunity missed to do more here. With that said, I’m going to declare glasnost, because frankly ‘Cold War’ is beautiful.”
Read more

“With a translation by Conor McPherson, the Almeida's stage premiere of Paweł Pawlikowski’s bleak 2018 film ‘Cold War’ is a triumph”
Read more

“It’s an unusual and original show, one that haunts you long after you leave the theatre, its essential sadness sweetened by tinges of hope and a deep humanity.”
Read more

“Goold’s production is vividly designed, embracing bright peasant garb and left-bank boho chic, Iron Curtain apparatchik offices and smoky, spotlit clubs...I didn’t have any of this on my dance card for theatre in December, but ‘Cold War’ is a brilliantly bitter antidote to standard Christmas fare.”
Read more

“To call ‘Cold War’ enjoyable feels like a contradiction, given the dark sombre nature of the story and the inevitable doom that awaits it. It manages to convey these difficult themes very well, though the tone of the show did get lost along the way at times and led to a slight pacing problem. Still a beautiful albeit harrowing story in its own right, ‘Cold War’ is bolstered by phenomenal performances, impressive writing and stunning direction.”
Read more

“For all its moments of stark loveliness, dramatically the play doesn’t satisfy. But it’s like an emotional bruise, tenderly and insistently inflicted.”
Read more

“There are several flashes of scarred beauty, but there’s a feeling of it being unfinished: a tighter script, real chemistry between the leads and a fully Polish score would all lend considerably more power.”
Read more

”... it really is a lovely show, and appreciably different to the film: the plot is identical, but McPherson’s dialogue is funnier, and it runs around an hour longer, with a gorgeously weary nocturnal quality replacing the crisp black and white cinematography.”
Read more