'What Mayenburg has to say is urgent and necessary... It's simply a play that you have to read as well as see to penetrate its subtleties.' Michael Billington, Guardian, 10.3.09 'It's not only the cheated Jewish wife who is bitter. The play resonates with its author's angry shame.' Benedict Nightingale, The Times, 11.3.09 'The ghostly strangeness of Marius von Mayenburg's The Stone, which shows up the enduring impact of Hitler's persecution of the Jews, complements his terrifying one-acter, The Ugly One ... In both plays, this remarkable German playwright suggests how Hitler's malign spirit resonates today... Seamlessly negotiating five decades of the 20th century and a period of almost 60 years, through which Linda Bassett's memorable, evasive Witha survives as a false witness, The Stone leaps through time with the natural fluidity of a dream, leaving us not always certain of who did what, why and how... With deceptive casualness the past lets slip its awful truths and disavows old subterfuges ... In his oblique, casual style von Mayenburg finally shatters our illusions ... Mesmerising.' Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard, 10.3.09 'Marius von Mayenburg's rather brilliant hour-long offering which takes a fresh look at how young, modern Germans deal with the legacy of the Nazis. What I love about this play...is its articulate anger.' John Nathan, Jewish Chronicle, 12.3.09 'Marius von Mayenburg's extraordinary knot of a play opens the Royal Court's season of new works about Germany... It's a grim comment on dealing with unpalatable truths, delivered with barely suppressed rage.' Siobhan Murphy, Metro (London), 16.3.09

A programme text edition published to coincide with the world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 5 February 2009 Marius von Mayenburg's 2007 play The Ugly One was a hit at the Royal Court and was revived later that same year due to its success: 'Brilliantly clever and funny ... exhilarating.' Independent Marius von Mayenburg is one of the most prominent German playwrights to emerge for some years