“The Baby Box opens on two adopted sisters, Glenda and Yvonne, in their first meeting in over 12 years….Sarah Finigan as the edgy and rebellious Yvonne really tears her heart out and is played well next to the brilliant Joanna Watt as the sensible and angry Glenda.

With the chemistry of such a beautiful text and believable acting, the spell is indeed cast and it becomes a very revealing and emotionally involved piece. At the end, we are left empathising hopelessly for a woman struggling to find her identity and make amends with her past.

A good play to see as textually and directorially it was ambitious…it will have the more hardened of us sniffing into a handkerchief... The power of Leicester’s writing combined with the wonderful acting talent really carries the play through to the very end, providing an engaging watch without being too schmaltzy or nostalgic. The Baby Box is a happy medium between adventurous and traditional that will appeal to many, and have even more running for some Kleenex.”

Allan Taylor, Extra Extra

In Chris Leicester’s new drama, two women who were adopted as infants by the same unstable and abusive mother have reacted differently as adults, one hiding in the seeming normalcy of denial, the other very aware of how damaged she is. Flashbacks and revelations of present traumas expose the scars both women carry.

The strengths of the play lie in individual scenes such as the sisters’ uncomfortable reunion and the surprisingly successful meeting of one with her birth mother, as well as the intense and expressive performances of Sarah Finigan and Joanna Watt in the central roles... Director Stephen Henry is to be credited for guiding his actresses to their strong performances.

Gerard Berkowitz, The Stage

Baby boom exploding in midlife crisis.

“Director Stephen Henry solves the problems of short scenes in various locations by starting the play as if in rehearsal, with scripts lying handy, minimal props, virtually no costume and a stage-manager ever-ready with tea and stage-directions. It also matches the provisional sense Yvonne has about her own reality, though the limited-budget doesn’t allow much sense of change when basic lighting takes over, the action flows independently and stage-management is edged to the sidelines, and then offstage. The point is Yvonne never has the security of feeling at home anywhere, her memories focus on her feelings. When a table-top becomes an attic prison, what’s significant is the memory of fear...It needs quick-wits to keep up with where and when we are, but this intricacy reflects Yvonne’s tangled mind, the search for somewhere to anchor herself.”

Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate

“Naturalistic, gritty writing – reminiscent of Mike Leigh.”

James Cooper, Camden new Journal

Bits of jigsaw fit neatly together ****

"The beginning is deliberately low key. Two actresses are sitting at a table with their scripts open, they say their lines, turning the pages when necessary and the stage manager sits on the side, reading out the stage directions.

As the play continues, the characters gather confidence, dispose of their scripts and the full story unfolds little by little like a traditional thriller. Clue after clue is presented until all the pieces join together like a jigsaw puzzle.

We are exploring the life of Yvonne in an exceptional performance by Sarah Finigan.

Her sister, Glenda is played by Joanna watt, who also does all the female parts - including their disturbed adoptive mother, Yvonne's birth mother, and her little daughter. She manages all these roles effortlessly with the minimum of stress and the maximum of effect.

The lone masculine actor is Iain Peacock who plays the male characters. These are rather ineffectual - nowhere near as strong as any of the females. Although written by a man and directed by Stephen Henry, this is a story for and about women.

When the play starts, we are In Glenda's house, the area is crawling with policemen.

Glenda arrives home to find that her sister, Yvonne, newly released from prison after 12 years for murder, has let herself into the house and is desperate for accommodation.

Glenda, is understandably reluctant, but eventually is forced to listen to the whole story, which is told in tiny bursts - jumping barriers of time and place until eventually the whole truth emerges.

Some of the stories are very painful - especially those of the mother and baby home. There are no conclusions drawn, and the audience is expected to make its own judgments on the situation.

Leicester's writing is confident and powerful and he has a disturbing story to tell.

Stephen Henry's direction is sure and inventive and the actors work together with an almost embarrassing honesty which is assisted by the naturalistic dialogue.

Once the play gets into its swing, there is no doubt that here are real people living out an appalling set of circumstances.

Aline Waites, Hamstead and Highgate Express, 6th March 2008.

"Very strong topics powerfully performed" ****

The Baby Box is a dramatic story about a family's secrets and pasts.

It starts with a rehearsed reading - asking for the audience's imagination and focus in the actors to fill in the set and lights. However, after a while the play develops into a performance with lights, set, costumes and acts. It is interesting as it seems to grab the viewers' attention to the acting and the text in the beginning but it also makes us realise the importance of the lights and music to deepen the strength of the text and the acting.

Yvonne (Sarah Finigan) breaks in Glenda's (Joanna Watt) house one evening unexpectedly after 12 years without seeing each other. Whatever happened in each others lives they don't really know until that night...

In fact, not only Yvonne breaks into Glenda's house she also breaks in their unrevealed past. A troubled past haunted by their mother's illness and a quite mysterious father - whose role is not very clear - becomes known in a rhythmic and poignant text.

Among moments of strong argument, physical violence and reencounters, the play also has us a beautiful and touching moment: the magic carpet travel. It is a unique moment of beauty and dream where a mother and a child travel in their imagination tied to a teddy bear. And it is brilliantly performed by Watt: with her eyes wide open and innocent smile. Here contrasting heavily with the other characters she has been acting throughout the play - the two mothers; the adult sister; the social worker... Amazing and yet a very convincing transformation!

What begun as an encounter of two sisters that haven't seen each other for many years slowly reveals a tale about their family, their past and their origins. Good, interesting and quite strong.

Catarina Toscano, Remotegoat, 20th March 2008.