The Strange Death of John Doe
July 8th, 2018
HAMPSTEAD DOWNSTAIRS/CELIA ATKIN PRESENT
THE STRANGE DEATH OF JOHN DOE
By FIONA DOYLE
Directed by EDWARD HALL
London – the present day. The unidentified body of a young man with fatal head injuries is found face down in a suburban street. Who is he and where did he come from? He has no ID and nobody witnessed anything. It’s as if he has just fallen from the sky…
Clinically named as ‘John Doe’ by the pathologists working on the case, they must uncover the truth and piece his story – and body – back together. A breakthrough sends DC John Kavura into overdrive and as his investigation unravels, he uncovers a haunting story of our time.
Reviews of the design:
THE TELEGRAPH: “Ximo’s past becomes theatrically animated amid Michael Pavelka’s comfortless mortuary set.”
THE STAGE: “The action is framed throughout by Michael Pavelka’s clinical, pathology lab set, characters hovering around the edges sinisterly in blue aprons and face masks, with steel tables used variously as benches, beds and mortuary slabs.”
WHATSONSTAGE: “It’s in Michael Pavelka’s disinfectant-smelling lab that this John Doe earns his name: no one knows who he is.”
THE SUNDAY TIMES: “We meet him in the mortuary, recreated in true Silent Witness style in Michael Pavelka’s set, with metal trolleys, blood soaked towels, scalpels, snappy plastic gloves, and some medieval torture-type loppers for crushing bones.”