The range of geography and time is all accomplished on a small set designed by Wesley Cornwell as Rima and Sami’s living room. About ten minutes before the play begins some of the actors take the stage for tea, lounging and speaking quietly. The tranquil domestic moment makes for a sharp and painful contrast to the state of the house, and by extension the city and country, by the play’s conclusion.

An early moment establishes the dominant juxtaposition: after Imad and Amina declare their love for each other, the now-darkened stage becomes the scene of an act of political torture and murder. The torturer tears down a segment of the white curtains that hang around the set—the others will also come down as the production goes on, used to shroud bodies or as blankets for sleeping in bombed-out buildings..

— Colin Macdonald, PlaysToSee