From the The Advertiser, 07-Mar-08
Reviewer: Ewart Shaw
David Hayward might not be Edgar Allan Poe but he is certainly a master storyteller with exceptional stage craft and energy. His revival of the Dawson Nichols play, which he first experienced at an earlier Fringe festival is a gripping production, and at no time during its considerable length does he lose focus or the attention of the rapt audience.
Joseph Walker, a psychiatric patient - the reason for whose incarceration becomes clear in the last poignant minutes - explains himself with lucidity, drawing on Poe's melodramatic prose and verse, and recreations of other people from his life.
Using the simplest of means, with supportive direction from Denise Hayward, he delivers a tour de force of dramatised story telling, which should be seen by every young actor and every budding playwright.
In short: Mesmerising story telling