Mass Shooting Aftermath: The Events

Greig’s piece may have emerged from the ashes of Anders Breivik’s mass shooting of teenagers at a Norwegian summer camp in 2021, but in the decade that followed, events disturbingly similar to those depicted here moved ever closer to home.

Played on Becky Minto’s row of tellingly unoccupied chairs stacked high, Nurse’s production is marked by composer John Browne’s piano-led score and sound designer Gary Cameron’s crisp interventions. Lizzie Powell’s lighting gives the stage a sacred glow.

The focus is on two wonderful performances. Sam Stopford brings the boy to life with matter-of-fact intensity, playing some of the retards who try to explain his actions. Claire Lamont gives a heartbreaking turn as Claire, a religious woman desperately searching for clues with no higher power to explain things.

In the end, Claire realizes that revenge is not enough, no matter the motives behind the murders, as Greig’s play becomes a hymn to humanity. Despite all the horrors inflicted on one another in the name of one cause or another, it is the power of song and the harmony it brings that heals.