The Reviews are in for Mass

BAFTA Best Actor Award winner Adeel Akhtar (Murdered by My Father), BAFTA & Olivier Award-winner Monica Dolan (All About Eve), Paul Hilton (The Inheritance) and Lyndsey Marshal (Rome) excel in Mass, the cathartic and profoundly moving drama set in an Episcopal church following a school shooting.

Originally conceived as a play by Fran Kranz, he instead turned it into a BAFTA-nominated film of the same name, in 2021, starring Jason Isaacs, Ann Dowd, Reed Birney, and Martha Plimpton. It has now been reworked for the stage, making its world premiere at the Donmar Warehouse in London until 6th June 2026.

The reviews are in:

"Faultlessly acted by a stunning cast." ★★★ (The Stage).

"Two couples, both of whom have lost sons, meet in Fran Kranz’s unflinching look at restorative justice." ★★★★ (The Guardian).

"A starkly haunting play, Kranz’s forensically detailed drama about the aftermath of a shooting at an American school features Monica Dolan on top form." ★★★ (The Times). 

"From Post Office scandal to the stage — is there anything Dolan can’t do? The actress is the best thing about Mass, playing the mother of a troubled teenage gunman." ★★★ (Sunday Times). 

"Mass is powerful stuff, but its devastating peaks can’t entirely offset some major frustrations." ★★★ (Time Out). 

"Despite fine performances, Mass feels lightweight." ★★★ (The Telegraph).

"There are few things that theatre does better than forcing people to sit still with their grief. Strip away spectacle and what you’re left with is language: raw and often painfully human. In Mass, that stillness becomes both its greatest strength and, at times, its undoing." ★★★ (Everything Theatre). 

"The script is a heartfelt but manipulative and relentless act of hand-wringing in the face of America’s hapless obeisance before the gun lobby. An easy win for a smugly liberal audience." ★★★ (The Standard).

"Both bleak and deeply human, this is a play whose intellectual intent never edges out its emotional capacity." ★★★★ (Financial Times).

"An intense, claustrophobic piece that attacks both the brain and the heart."  ★★★★ (The Arts Desk). 

"It really does shine on the Donmar's small stage, where an audience can see close-up how a single space shifts from an impersonal meeting place into an almost spiritual site of reconciliation. Words are never enough, but they can still reduce a room to tears." ★★★★ (The Independent)

Overall: ★★★½

• Donmar Warehouse, London
• Ends 6 June 2026.

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