Sewell Barn Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 11 July 2009 Cold Comfort Farm A gnarled old tyrannical matriach who ‘saw something nasty in the woodshed’ when she was young and has milked it ever since, is just one of many weird and wonderful characters who people this funny farm. The play is a parody of doom-laden rural literature from Austin to Hardy, and the intimacy of the Sewell Barn well serves the breaking of the fourth wall, the direct address and an enjoyable proximity to madness. Young Flora (difficult part, well handled by Annette Phillips) arrives to bring new ideas, less madness and some order into her relatives’ chaotic farm. These are the delightfully loopy Starkadders, disturbed and disturbing: Ruth Howitt, Ian Shepherd, Tom Marshall, Tristan Cliffe, Matt Bishop and Lucy … Read entire article »