Written by: Owen McCafferty
Produced by:
'Joys of a day on the tiles' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'The dialogue cackles with demotic energy, the dramatic structure is satisfying sounds while the characters are drawn with both vigour and insight. It all adds up to a highly entertaining and at times touching 90 minutes of theatre' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'The consequences make for some irresistible comedy' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'The play is superb, too, on the way men talk to each other' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'Robert Delamere's production, cleverly and atmospherically designed on a revolving stage by Simon Higlett, features a good deal of impressively neat tiling and some equally satisfying performances.' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'Jim Norton is superb as Ding-Ding' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'James Nesbitt is outstanding too' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'And there is strong support from Conleth Hill' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
'This is a play that satisfyingly mixes humour, pathos and manifest humanity' Charles Spencer, Telegraph
**** The Guardian
'McCafferty's play is both funny and painful' Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
'Tragicomedy of character and circumstance that makes McCafferty look like a ribald Northern Irish Chekov' Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
'It's a cracking show performed with understated flourish' Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
'The script of Shoot The Crow is beautifully written. McCafferty brilliantly captures the things that real people say.' Michael Portillo, The New Statesman
'All four performances are excellent' Michael Portillo, The New Statesman
'Lee handles the visual comedy nicely' Michael Portillo, The New Statesman
'Shoot The Crow was previously produced in Galway and Manchester. Thank goodness it has reached the West End.' Michael Portillo, The New Statesman
'Slick direction from Robert Delamere ensures a pacy delivery and produces real tension as the moment of temptation nears.' Michael Portillo, The New Statesman
'It is a while since I enjoyed a night at the theatre half as much as this.' Michael Portillo, The New Statesman
**** Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
'Owen McCafferty puts that right with his fresh, rueful comedy.' Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
'Amid all this toil McCafferty finds plenty of laughs' Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
'immediate stuff' Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
'Young Mr Lee does well against his three more experienced colleagues' Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
'The acting is first-class' Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
'An expert night on the tiles' Sheridan Morley, Daily Express
'Owen McCafferty is a hot, award-winning Ulster playwright, clever enough to suggest there could be something a kittle more complex going on here.' Sheridan Morley, Daily Express
'a kind of poetic realism just below the surface which makes Shoot The Crow about something rather more heavy than four tilers.' Sheridan Morley, Daily Express
'(McCafferty) is admirably unsentimental about his chosen team' Sheridan Morley, Daily Express
'Robert Delamere's agile production' Sheridan Morley, Daily Express
'the quartet? are as expert at the acting as they are at the grouting.' Sheridan Morley, Daily Express
**** Sunday Express
'In the uproarious new Irish comedy Shoot The Crow, Cold Feet's James Nesbitt is touchingly truthful as a Belfast tiler' Mark Shenton, Sunday Express
'In this wonderfully warm-hearted piece, playwright Owen McCafferty's gift for the rhythms of dialogue and personality are as distinctive as those of a David Mamet play.' Mark Shenton, Sunday Express
**** The Mail On Sunday
'But McCafferty's considerable achievement is the unsentimental creation of four detailed characters, and the pinched, blighted world in which they are trapped.' Georgina Brown, The Mail On Sunday
'The writing is fast, funny, poetic; and in Robert Delamere's slick production, the performances are outstanding.' Georgina Brown, The Mail On Sunday
**** The Times
'Everyone steals this sharp show' Benedict Nightingale, The Times
'James Nesbitt and Conleth Hill are among the terrific actors in a play that shows Owen McCafferty's humour and understanding.' Benedict Nightingale, The Times
'McCafferty combines authenticity of observation with quirky humour, moral toughness and a sympathetic understanding of difficult and, at times, quietly desperate lives.' Benedict Nightingale, The Times
'The would-be thieves' bungling attempts to get one another out of the way are hilarious' Benedict Nightingale, The Times
'four terrific actors' Benedict Nightingale, The Times
'McCafferty resembles? Sean O'Casey. Praise comes no higher than that.' Benedict Nightingale, The Times
**** Whatsonstage.com
'Director Robert Delamere keeps dsisgner Simon Higlett's revolving stage and the action on it spinning nicely' Terri Paddock, Whatsonstage.com
'The scene in which they attempt to goad each other into leaving first for lunch is a treat.' Terri Paddock, Whatsonstage.com
'Delamere also wins sterling performances from his foursome.' Terri Paddock, Whatsonstage.com
'James Nesbitt makes an easy transition from screen to stage? His tearful epiphany? is genuinely moving.' Terri Paddock, Whatsonstage.com
'Conleth Hill proves himself once again to be one of Northern Ireland's greatest gifts to the London stage.' Terri Paddock, Whatsonstage.com
'Jim Norton? and Packy Lee? also endear.' Terri Paddock, Whatsonstage.com
**** Claire Allfree, Metro
'tough, meaty dialogue peppered with spiky humour' Claire Allfree, Metro
'McCafferty plots the farcical nature of the botched theft beautifully' Claire Allfree, Metro
'Robert Delamere's superb cast delivers on-the-money performances, making full use of a script that uses very little to say an awful lot' Claire Allfree, Metro
'Shoot The Crow has to be the most therapeutic evening of laughter for London thatregoers' Peter Stothard, The Times
'there is a fresh wistful wit for 2005 and a wider audience too.' Peter Stothard, The Times
'the wonderful Olivier-awarded Conleth Hill' Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
'the vintage Obie-winner Jim Norton' Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
'Robert Delamere's production is winningly scruffy and busy' Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
'This dramatist has humane warmth and a lovely ear for chat' Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
'the acting is a joy. As ever Hill is superb' Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
'Norton is splendid' Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
'(Packy) Lee is one to watch, irresistibly funny when he develops nervous jitters' Kate Bassett, The Independent on Sunday
'It is a very funny play' Rebecca Tyrrel, The Sunday Telegraph
'buoyantly directed, with a crack cast, by Robert Delamare' Susannah Clapp, The Observer
'It's hard to think of a play that shifts register so easily and quickly. And hard to find a cast with more conviction than Conleth Hill, Packy Lee, Jim Norton and James Nesbitt' Susannah Clapp, The Observer
'Shoot The Crow is far from just workmanlike' Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
'Shoot The Crow? grouts it with style' Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
'There is a real subtlety to Robert Delamere's production' Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
'Lee is full of adolescent pride - gawky, gormless and increasingly angry. Norton is equally good at the other end of the age spectrum' Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
'Nesbitt? redeems himself as the soulful Socrates? He doesn't fall back on his rogueishness; nor does he strain for charm' Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
'it is the versatile Hill who steals the show as the pragmatic Petesy' Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
'(the play) is an elegant construction all of its own. Like the men it so lovingly portrays, it works.' Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
'Nesbitt is cool' Michael Coveney, The Independent
'McCafferty is a brilliant new Irish dramatist to set alongside Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson' Michael Coveney, The Independent