4 stars "It was while watching Matthew Dunster’s excellent, pacy ensemble staging for Out Of Joint that I realised why I so like David Edgar’s writing... he actually wants to find answers"
Ian Shuttleworth, Financial Times

4 stars "This is a brilliant piece of entertainment: crisp, funny, sceptical and generous. Behind the entertainment, however, are wisdom and a warning... Matthew Dunster directs with a sense of nimble clarity, and the eight actors play twice as many roles with acrobatic skill."
John Peter, Sunday Times

4 stars "“a fast-paced, zesty production… Teacher Emma finds her own tolerance tested when a Muslim student objects to one of the teachers who is gay, to a work card she is given depicting a sausage, and to being asked to argue a point she finds abhorrent. And yet for all the challenges it is clearly a momentous moment when the students are given their citizenship however drab the ceremony.... it is oddly moving to think that across multicultural Brent there could well be people taking similar classes to the one portrayed on stage even as we watch the play."
Jane Edwardes, Time Out

"David Edgar’s first play for Out of Joint is both fast and funny in its discussion of what it might mean to be British if you are applying for the status of citizenship… A typically versatile cast of eight skim across topics of prostitution, questionnaires and “how to become a citizen” with sharp wits and witty sharpness in Matthew Dunster’s non-stop, 100-minute production."
Michael Coveney, Whatsonstage.com

"Playfull, witty and full of energy - a multi-layered play"
Front Row, Radio 4

"Edgar's play is characteristically clever... you can't help getting drawn in to the issues, especially the central theme of the Government's extraordinary ideas about what it means to be British... a high-spirited spoof-lesson in citizenship. There are strong and chirpy performances too"
Patrick Marmion, Daily Mail

“an hour and three quarters of provocative, witty, virtuoso theatre -Teresa Banham gives a passionate portrayal of Emma the tutor who clashes with one of her students. Sirine Saba is excellent as Nasim, who refuses to play the game and causes Emma to question her beliefs. Kirsty Bushell, in the tender scenes between Tetyana and her stepdaughter, produces moments of real pathos"
Graham Gurrin, The Stage

"If you see just one or two pieces of theatre this year, make sure Testing the Echo is one of them: a powerful new play – a riveting hour and three quarters of theatre staged with impressive skill - important and disturbing"
Joyce Macmillan, The Scotsman

4 stars "Testing the Echo is clever, intelligent, witty... Edgar's intricate script, written with passion, is directed with innovative flair by Matthew Dunster, Associate Director of the Young Vic... a prime example of how theatre and politics can be combined to create a thought-provoking evening"
Manchester Evening News

4 stars "Testing the Echo is a brave and satisfying new play, rich with ideas and pleasingly unsettling. Out of Joint deliver it with their usual confident and forceful style, marrying the personal and the global, delivering thorny issues without compromise... Testing the Echo is truly a play for today."
Entertainment Manchester

"Bursting with ideas... Matthew Dunster's production is performed with role-swapping gusto by a cast of eight"
Michael Billington, The Guardian

"Sharp writing combined with first-rate acting... Matthew Dunster directs a fast-paced, slick production - original and thought-provoking"
Salisbury Journal

“8/10. Edgar’s darts hit all sorts of targets”
Liverpool Echo

“Touching and riveting… Provocative and witty, gives you plenty to reflect upon: maybe ‘There but for the grace of God…’ – and whether it’s OK to use phrases like that these days”
BBC Liverpool online

“4 STARS. At under two hours, David Edgar’s new play is a departure from the big state-of-the-nation plays for which he is well known. But this laconic look at multicultural Britain has an epic frame of reference and its kaleidoscopic style, with eight actors creating a far larger cast of characters, isn’t so far removed from Nicholas Nickleby… an effective snapshot of today’s Britain.”
Birmingham Post

“8/10 – David Edgar’s thought-provoking play… Teresa Banham gives a sterling performance as Emma”
Leamington Courier

“A thought-provoking and pacey drama – challenging and fascinating”
Coventry Telegraph

"As all ways, Edgar has his finger on the zeitgeist"
Daily Telegraph