ARTS NATIONAL:
The show’s standout visual moment is the visceral, churning chaos of the public repentance scene in Act II – also one of the best vocal moments for bass-baritone Christian Pursell, whose Reverend Olin Blitch is revealed by this staging as a calculated, practiced (but deliciously voiced) manipulator of those around him. This is one of the strongest moments in the melodramatic conceit, foreshadowing the character’s darker turn in a later scene.
BASIL CONSIDINE