THEATRE REVIEW: A Russian Doll ★★★★

Have you ever been scrolling through your phone aimlessly, to then find adverts almost curated to your very need, and wonder whether your phone has been listening in to conversations you've had previously?

In Cat Goscovitch's A Russian Doll, we are spoken to be Masha (Rachel Redford) a Russian woman who jokes at one point that not everyone truly reads the terms and conditions to a game, software, or social media site, but this humour should not deter from the power she has behind photo-less Instagram accounts, in a way for her to worm inside the mind of those she is seen to hack.

Throughout the performance, we are put to the very test in understanding just how much we truly know about our data and internet history. Even as I write this review now, I feel a real sense of invasion and tension that the music I'm listening to, or the TV that's on in the background, will suddenly become to play a more prominent, and immediate pop up on my screen the next time I go online, and that's what makes Goscovitch's text so real and personal.

With Rachel Redford taking the stage in this one woman show, she embraces the character of Masha with such diction that you do become engrossed with her character, thanks to Voice and Accent Coach Katherine Heath, who really has helped Redford transform into this often complex character, surrounded all over by projections in the background of white boards and city landmarks, whilst enclosed in Liz Da Costa's cold and metallic design, perfectly encapsulating 2016 St Petersburg.

A Russian continues to play at The Barn Theatre until 12th June, where it will then transfer to The Arcola's brand new outdoor staging in London, soon after is run at The Barn.