Sunday will begin with what I expect will be the second of two dramatic highlights of this weekend, Stripped Down Productions’ The Curing Room. This is the description: “Spring 1944 – seven Soviet soldiers have been captured by the Nazis, stripped naked and abandoned in the locked empty cellar of a monastery in southern Poland. Deprived of all ties to their world, the prisoners redefine their concepts of order and human nature. In order to survive the men resort to murder and cannibalism. How do they reconcile rank, faith and dignity? Powerful, thought-provoking and darkly funny, The Curing Room by David Ian Lee and directed by Joao de Sousa is a bold, shocking thriller based on true events.” I’m expecting it will be very harrowing and a difficult watch, but if it’s done with sensitivity and integrity then it could be quite astounding. Not sure how we’re going to feel about having lunch afterwards! It’s on at noon at the Pleasance Dome, so I hope to post instant reactions from about 1.30pm onwards, at which time I’ll be previewing the next show.

Well, as the elderly American tourist said after 4 hours of the NT’s Tamburlaine the Great, “more of a play than a show really”. Immensely powerful, incredibly dark, a play about survival at its grittiest. Hugely brave performances from the cast, and the kind of experience that will stay with you for days. Mrs C’s guts are frappéd though. Sounds superficial to say I loved it, and actually I didn’t. But I really appreciated it. A must see if you’re strong enough.