'I loved this exquisitely acted revival of Shelagh Stephenson's first play, about grief, memory and identity'

'There is a certain sitcom quippishness between the three sisters who return to the family home by the sea in North Yorkshire for their mothers cremation, the joys are mostly in the play's clear-eyed depiction of buried secrets, thwarted dreams and ties that bind'

'Stephenson shows everyone groping vainly towards some sort of perfect future free of their constricted pasts'

'Alice Hamilton's production is so detailed and yet so warm-blooded that it earns any contrivances on its way to a poignancy that sticks in the mind'

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'The revival of Shelagh Stephenson's 25-year-old comedy is a bracing blast of fresh air.'

'What I love about this play is that it has blood flowing through its veins.'

'Stephenson's work is a raucous meditation on how we all concoct delusions from unreliable memories. Where lesser writers might find this troubling, she finds it joyous and liberating.'

'Alice Hamilton's raucous production, set in a chintzy bedroom suite, is a salutary reminder that it's mad to be normal and normal to be mad.'

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'Can you steal other people’s memories? How can you remember something that didn’t happen? What happens when memory begins to fade? Back in 1996, Shelagh Stephenson delved into these questions in The Memory of Water, a darkly comic play about death and grief. Twenty-five years later, the family drama has returned to its original home of Hampstead Theatre under Alice Hamilton’s direction, with a production that maintains its poignant relevancy.'

'At the heart of the show are Lucy Black, Laura Rogers and Carolina Main, who perfectly capture the sisterly dynamic as grief forces them to act like adults while reverting to childlike bickering and grabbing... All three actors shine'

'The Memory of Water is at its best when comedy and tragedy meld together, highlighting the awful yet funny things you really shouldn’t but can’t help laughing about in grief.'

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'25 years after its first outing and many memories later, the play's come back home directed by Hampstead regular Alice Hamilton. Teresa (Lucy Black), Mary (Laura Rogers), and Catherine (Carolina Main) gather together after their mother Vi's death. As they wait for her funeral, their constant sisterly bickering brings to the surface the contrasting recollections of their younger years.'

'They're complicated women, as solid as they come; it's a joy to see Black, Rogers, and Main interact as the trio.'

'Stephenson aims a magnifying lens at how such an intense bond deals under vast amounts of grief and pain. There's so much tragedy hidden under the coat of comedy the playwright gives the story, which is genuinely funny. The three women, along with Teresa's husband Frank (Kulvinder Ghir) and Mary's boyfriend Mike (Adam James) engage in a tight battle of dark funerary humour, perhaps to cope with the actual cause why they're all together.'

'Designer Anna Reid, another regular at the venue, finally makes her main stage debut. She creates a stunning set that, as per her trademark, is elegant and refined with a touch of unexpected.'

'The mirrors play with Joanna Town's lighting design, creating intriguing shapes on the floor during pivotal moments in the show, which adds visual drama too. Even after a quarter of a century after its conception, The Memory of Water remains poignant.' 

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