Landscape with Weapon
'Riveting…bitterly funny play in which [Penhall] sets the aesthetic world of the creator against the harsh realities of politics. It's a series of debates in which the emotions run deep as the ideas…Penhall has a terrific ability to explore moral conundrums dramatically…hones in on the argument with accuracy and force'Jane Edwardes, Time Out
5 STARS / SHOW OF THE WEEK / CRITICS' CHOICE #1 'Penhall turns the theatre into a debating chamber in Roger Michell's tense, terrific production. The debate is electrifyingly charged in the performances of Tom Hollander and Julian Rhind-Tutt as the two brothers… …This is an important and bracing intellectual drama that brilliantly humanises a moral conundrum.'
Sunday Express 'Joe Penhall's politically barbed new play…gripping…Tom Hollander and Julian Rhind-Tutt are explosively funny, highly intelligent actors with impish comic timing.'
Independent on Sunday 'Intriguing new play about the moral and psychological implications of the arms trade…Penhall shows a subtle feel for the big issues in small settings.'
Daily Mail 'Impeccably staged…Julian Rhind-Tutt…supreme comic talent…Jason Watkins is outstanding as Brooks the intelligence officer, a nice-spook-nasty-spook rolled into one. There is vivacious direction from Roger Michell. An enjoyable evening of theatre immaculately acted.'
Sunday Times
'Fascinating... constantly subtle and engaging...Hollander gives an extraordinary portrait of myopic preoccupation and subsequent unravelling. Julian Rhind-Tutt is magnetic, beautifully light verbally and physically…Their relationship, finely steered by Roger Michell, solders the play together and makes a crisis into a drama.'
Observer 'Penhall's absorbing, provocative Landscape with Weapon is both a searching, dramatic debate into the ethics and morals of making weapons and a moving study into the relationship between two brothers… …An excellent and extremely moving Tom Hollander…Julian Rhind-Tutt is a delight… …Roger Michell's assured production hits every target spot-on'
Mail on Sunday**** 4 STARS 'Roger Michell's well-paced production…I was intellectually gripped.'
Guardian 'Roger Michell's finely acted production…Absorbing.'
The Times 'Joe Penhall's gift for dramatising uncomfortable arguments is again apparent in his powerful new play about the arms industry and the moral responsibility of the scientist. Roger Michell's production does justice to its lithe intelligence, emotional pain and rueful humour. Tom Hollander is excellent... The ending is bleakly beautiful.'
Independent, Critics' Choice 'Watch out for Roger Michell's rivetting production of Joe Penhall's explosive and sublime new play... Hollander is outstanding.'
Baz Bamigboyne, Daily Mail 'A riveting human tragedy…
…Director Roger Michell presents a stylish and arresting production on William Dudley's traverse stage, which accentuates the antagonistic, dialectic nature of as play that debates the ethics of the arms industry…I was mesmerised… …Superb acting…Hollander's performance as the isolated, vulnerable Ned is pitch-perfect and his descent into grubby paranoia is incredibly poignant…Rhind-Tutt gives a richly compelling performance…the two actors have a fabulous chemistry.'
City AM
Landscape with Weapon finished on: 3 July 2007
