SHE’S AN UNHAPPY HACKER
A Russian Doll (Barn Theatre, Cirencester) Verdict: Crime and caviar ★★★★✩
CIRENCESTER’S Barn Theatre had a great lockdown online, and is following that with a fascinating, disturbing monologue about Russian mind control on social media. It’s the (part true) story of Masha, a student of English in St Petersburg who works for state-sponsored cyber criminals, spreading lies about the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Although Masha is at first disgusted by her job, Cat Goskovitch’s play shows how she’s seduced by lucre and caviar-fuelled parties. But much as I was amused by her manipulation of social media influencers, I was sceptical of the insinuation that anyone who voted for Brexit was a Kremlin stooge. Still, I was impressed by Nicolas Kent’s slick production — and Rachel Redford’s sensational performance (left) The show will run at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester, until June 12; and then at the Arcola Theatre’s Arcola Outside venue in East London.