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Donmar’s Mass Confronts Grief in a Tense Parent‑to‑Parent Reckoning

Reviews divide over its raw emotion versus its light touch on gun politics.

Overview

  • Reviews, which landed Thursday, report a finely acted Donmar Warehouse staging of Fran Kranz’s Mass running until 6 June.
  • Carrie Cracknell directs in an Episcopal church meeting room recreated by designer Anna Yates in an unnamed North American town.
  • The drama centers on a restorative‑justice meeting between a victim’s parents and the shooter’s parents seven years after a school shooting.
  • Adeel Akhtar, Lyndsey Marshal, Monica Dolan and Paul Hilton lead the cast, with several critics calling the quartet’s work the production’s anchor.
  • Critics note precise, intimate staging choices, including a slowly revolving table and a brief setup with church staff and a mediator that frames the encounter.