Anne-Marie Duff kills it! ★★★★★

Sometimes you read reviews of shows that make you wonder just what that reviewer was seeing, and in the case of DC. Moore's Common, I couldn't disagree with the consensus so vehemently, the show is incredible.

A highly charged and wholly epic paen to English countryside and the chaos created at the hands of Enclosure - the fencing off of fields and common lands, Common is a ferocious, gothic force that pitches between The Wicker Man and something imagined by Jane Austen and Neil Gaiman in an unholy union.

Anne-Marie Duff leads the cast in a thrilling performance as Mary, a rogue with a wicked tongue who gives any male rake, (looking at you The Libertine's John Wilmot) a run for their money. Mary is born poor but made rich through her own wit. Returning to her home village to settle scores and exact revenge on her former oppressors, she suddenly discovers a genuine psychic talent that seems to come from the devil himself.

As her initial plans to scourge the land and win back her former lover unravel, so too does her mind, mirrored in the narrative as she meets her end at the hands of a harvestless populace. Desperation at a poor yield and the oncoming threat of enclosure from the Lord of the land leads them back to a purer, tribal nature. Blood is spilled, hearts are liberated from chests, it's bloody incredible to experience.

Coupled with Duff's excellent rendition as Mary are fantastic turns from Cush Jumbo and John Dalgleish, the sibling pair at the centre of Mary's ire and obsession. Played out on an expansive set that evokes a scarred land peopled by crows and growing doom, with design that matches, Jeremy Herrin's production is both provocative and terrifying.

I don't want to cast aspersions on my fellow reviewers, however, as is clear I felt that the play was engaging, bewitching and funny with stellar performances throughout. If that's not good enough, I'm not sure what is.

Common is at the Olivier National Theatre until August 5th

Reviewed by Kitty on June 24th

@ThisIsKittyMac

View our show pages for more information about Common, National Theatre, Olivier.