Theatre review: The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas, Royal Court, London

What is it? A new play by Dennis Kelly (Matilda the Musical), directed by incoming Royal Court head, Vicky Featherstone. A dark morality tale, it relates the life of Gorge (Tom Brooke) as he embraces capitalism and ditches his conscience.

The Independent says: “Brooke is wonderfully compelling as the title’s hero and Featherstone’s skilful direction brings out all the creepy, slow-paced horror and queasy comedy … It’s true that [it’s] long-winded and over-explicit and that, even by the standards of fable, it feels deficient in specific political context. But there are sequences of shudder-inducing power.”

They say: The Stage: “The central theme of moral darkness is successfully conveyed by Featherstone’s superb production … With its mixture of hilarity and leftfield insights, this is an extraordinary, strenuous and haunting evening.” What’s On Stage: “An energy-sapping biographical morality tale … It’s a glum, dogged and mostly humourless three-hour opening to Vicky Featherstone’s regime.”

You say: @DavidStevens10: “Excellent play and at 3 hours for £10, superb value”; @DrMaplewood: “wasn’t very good at all. Felt really obvious and I didn’t believe a word of it”

Details: to 19 October; royalcourttheatre.com