SOURCE: Caplan, Betty. “The Duel in the Crone.” New Statesman & Society 7, no. 288 (4 February 1994): 43–44.

In the following review, Caplan praises Churchill's writing and Kathryn Hunter's acting in The Skriker, but complains that the staging is too small in scale and that the direction and choreography seem at odds with each other.

Perhaps it's surprising to discover that after all the hype about physical theatre that preceded the premiere of Caryl Churchill's new play, The Skriker (at the Cottesloe Theatre) is more inventive with language than ever. She has been moving steadily, not away from words, but towards a new freedom in which, it seems, the presence of dancers and musicians has been an enabling force.

Mad Forest, A Mouthful of Birds, The Lives of the Great Poisoners: all have struggled to break their ties with naturalism. Here she reaches another pinnacle. The “real” world is constantly inhabited by spooks...