Review Roundup: MANHUNT Opens at Royal Court Theatre

Robert Icke's Manhunt is now playing at Royal Court Theatre. On July 1st, 2010, Raoul Moat was released from Durham Prison. The events of the next few days would leave a man murdered, a police officer blinded, a woman fighting for her life – and spark the biggest manhunt in UK history.

Award-winning writer and director Robert Icke (Oedipus, Player Kings, West End) provides a chilling portrait of a man on the run. A Royal Court commission, presented in co-production with Sonia Friedman Productions. See what the critics are saying...

Gary Naylor, BroadwayWorld: Like police cover-ups, social workers' priorities and the mental health crisis of Boomer men caught on the wrong side of postindustrialism, it’s alluded to but not examined in a production that resurrects a man only to bury him again 100 minutes later, having said far less than it might have. And, more pertinently, far less than it should have.

aria, The Guardian: This story hangs in the air, unsure of – or opaque in – its intentions. Is this an anatomy of a breakdown? An investigation into the ways Moat was failed? Or a portrait of white, northern, working-class masculinity in extreme crisis? It seems like a bit of all, but not enough of one.

Houman Barekat, The New York Times: Icke is one of Britain’s most highly regarded young directors, and though he has successfully rewritten a number of canonical works, “Manhunt” is his first wholly original script. While the play deals admirably with difficult subject matter, it is a flawed work.

Nick Curtis, Evening Standard: Before the last of many threats to commit suicide, sawn-off shotgun barrel socketed under his jaw, Moat has a speech about the crisis of masculinity. It feels timely, but like everything here it’s ambiguous, half-plea and half threat. Icke is one of the most gifted theatre artists working today – his magnificent 2024 Oedipus has just won a string of awards – but for all its intensity, Manhunt feels like it’s hedging its bets. Or worse, can’t make its mind up.

Sara West, Everything Theatre: A powerful, challenging experience, Manhunt exposes the audience to the reality of the underworld of toxic white masculinity, simultaneously creating unease with and sympathy for the violent protagonist. The Royal Court, known as the writers’ theatre, once again delivers an intense, conflicting story designed to unsettle the spectator.

Chris Abbott, West End Best Friend: The tonal shift between each of the three sections seems to work against the cohesion of the play, although each is presented with great skill and impressive stagecraft. The involvement of very young child actors seems to add little though, and it must have involved considerable difficulties in safeguarding young performers taking part in such a violent and adult piece of work.

Olivia Rook, London Theatre: Unlike James Graham’s Punch at the Young Vic, we don’t root for this damaged character — any feelings of sympathy for his past are overwhelmed by the knowledge of what he goes on to do. But Manhunt, like Netflix’s Adolescence, asks interesting questions about male violence, where it stems from, and how it can be controlled. Icke’s Royal Court debut is certainly thought-provoking.

Average Rating: 54.3%