Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in 'virtuosic' Everyman

Rufus Norris has begun his tenure as artistic director of the National Theatre with Carol Ann Duffy's adaptation of morality tale Everyman. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, it runs at the Olivier Theatre until 30 August.

Michael Coveney, WhatsOnStage

★★★★

"a vivid retrieval of the medieval morality play Everyman"

"Duffy's rewrite is total, her rhymes much racier, her religiosity satirical – but effectively moving at the end."

"Ejiofor is a commanding, sympathetic presence in the middle of this energetic and seductive spectacle"

Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph

★★★

"It sounds a little worthy, a touch dull. Is it? Well no. But if anything it swings so far in the direction of looking and sounding with-it and hip that it commits the sin of appearing at once theatrically lavish and dramatically threadbare."

"There are lots of sharp inventive touches"

"It induces shivers as a memento mori, possesses a rare metaphysical curiosity too but the best plays today tend to have more to chew on."

Dominic Maxwell, The Times

★★★★

"Carol Ann Duffy retains gravitas and yearning, adds punchiness and an intermittent enthusiasm for tight rhyme schemes"

"Ejiofor is supremely watchable"

"The ensemble is excellent, the design by Ian McNeil and Nicky Gillibrand is eye-catching but adaptable. Yet finally it’s the play’s centuries-old reminder to live our brief lives well that sticks with you."

Michael Billington, Guardian

★★★★

"what was originally church propaganda has been turned, in Carol Ann Duffy’s stunning adaptation, into a scathing assault on the myopic materialism of the modern age"

"This, in short, is an Everyman for today and in Ejiofor the lead role finds an ideal interpreter"

"Duffy’s poetry is underscored by William Lyons’s eclectic music and faithfully realised by Norris’s virtuosic production"

Quentin Letts, Daily Mail

★★★

"the first big production from the new regime at the Royal National Theatre grabs your attention but it is also a dumbed-down jumble."

"the production has flashes of brilliance but it is undone, or at least lowered, by a surfeit of F-words and a tiresome quest for accessibility"

"The emphasis on modernism here sits at odds with the story’s timeless message of unfashionable decency"

Everyman runs at the National Theatre Olivier until 30 August