Summerfolk at the National Theatre Wins Design Plaudits, Faces Notes on Sprawl

Overview

• Major outlets praise Peter McKintosh’s transformative set, which reshapes the Olivier into a sun‑bleached dacha and forested stream.
• Critics single out a large ensemble led by Sophie Rundle, Alex Lawther, Paul Ready and Justine Mitchell for nuanced performances.
• Nina and Moses Raine’s updating introduces ribald, contemporary language that reviewers say will divide audiences.
• Several reviews describe a tighter opening followed by a ballooning second half that blunts any sense of catharsis.
• The production foregrounds Gorky’s themes of class anxiety and looming upheaval, which critics note feel strikingly current.