MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
The Drill
Battersea Arts Centre, London
A CRITICAL exploration of our anxieties about terrorism and the big question of what each of us would do in a crisis could make for a gripping hour in the theatre.
But this mixed-media piece from Breach Theatre, addressing some challenging ideas, is more workshop than narrative. Occasionally raised by “experts” in video clips and then left hanging, the result is amorphous and unsatisfying.
It’s those self-appointed experts who create the problem at the heart of the piece. The private companies offering courses in tackling shooters or identifying potential terrorists and even explosive devices are creating a market based on increasing our fears.
Given the tawdry push and pull around disability benefits, MATTHEW HAWKINS relishes Dan Daw’s defiant celebration of body and sexuality
SIMON PARSONS is gripped by a psychological thriller that questions the the power of the state over vulnerable individuals



