Press

“From its very first sentence, Christine Evans’s Nadia sweeps the reader up in a riveting tale of war, survival, love, and trauma. The story is set in London, just after the Balkan Wars, but is less about fighting than about the way any war forces those caught in it to face who they really are, what they believe, and what they will do about it. Nadia is immensely rewarding to read, touching both the intellect and the heart.”

"Nadia is a poetic, unflinching novel that centers the victims and ripple effects of the Bosnian War."

“Christine Evans writes with masterful restraint, achieving a literary debut that is both a page-turner and an exquisite rendering of queer resilience despite the specters of war. Like the quiet after a gunshot, the silences in Nadia crackle with threat. You won’t be able to put it down.”

“Christine Evans’s Nadia is a brilliant meditation on how the forgotten will
fight tooth and nail to be remembered, sneak in through the trap doors of our hearts, and border our vision. A master storyteller, Evans bends time and space with the precision of a mystic physicist.”

“Shockingly original, stunningly written, Nadia is fierce, funny, and tragic, filled with encroaching dread about a Serbian ex-sniper and a young Bosnian refugee who is so distinctive she should be patented. Like Emily St. John Mandel, the author plants us in a cryptic, dangerous new reality we never doubt for a second. To say I loved this novel is an understatement. To say you should read it is a command.”

“A tale thick with trauma and acute with a sense of longing for a home that was erased, this often brutal, sometimes lovely, and always humane novel wades through the refuse of war to elevate those who were blotted out. . . . Nadia is a poetic, unflinching novel that centers on the victims and ripple effects of the Bosnian War.”

"A powerful and moving piece of theatre….My Vicious Angel is a must-see theatrical experience. A wonderful example of serious theatre at its best."

​"Christine Evans is about to join a small but select list of Australian playwrights who write with a peculiarly poetic intensity . . . My Vicious Angel seized me with the intensity, musicality and economy of its language, the power of its scenario and the potential of its theatricality."

"Evans writes from the gut with a darkly gritty world-view. . . . Evans wisely fleshes out the humanity of all her characters, good and bad, sexual and cultural, victim and bully. She brilliantly utilizes the moon-like terrain of the Outback . . . to parallel the inhospitable geography of politics, where cruelty is the path of least resistance . . . A multi-layered, superlatively textured script."

"Explosive new work . . . an imaginative, time-warped view of the ongoing challenges women have faced since foreign conflict first raged thousands of years ago."

"The best thing that can be said about a playwright you’ve experienced for the first time is that you can’t wait for the next play. Based on Trojan Barbie, Christine Evans should be on the radar of anyone who cares about contemporary American theater."

"Evans’ script combines a strong sense of humor with the surreal and keeps at least one foot grounded in the reality we know . . . Being Weightless, or at least striving to be, is fun and a bit scary as well."

"Evans’ play is a strongly crafted exercise in the tenuous and the unsettling… A well-acted urban tale of sadness, both touching and disturbing."

"Evans, now writing from the US, again proves herself a master of construction and spare, evocative dialogue in a quasi-fantastic setting."

"CAN'T COMPLAIN is beautifully structured; its entire first scene reveals the reality of the situation with a twist in its final lines."

"Brilliant writing and direction, incredible acting, and visually striking stage design make Can’t Complain a ‘Must See’ event. Christine Evans’ play makes an exciting contribution to the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, and I know I look forward to seeing future productions that Spooky Action Theater has to offer."

"Christine Evans’ Can’t Complain is an exquisitely beautiful play that cuts to the bone.... A supposedly soothing atmosphere, but one that hurts to be there, like going to a doctor’s waiting room when the news is all bad."

"Cloudless is a deeply beautiful and very powerful story of love and transcendence. The writing is both clear and simple, and deeply, richly poetic."

Beatty Park Dreaming (Full Article)

Interview with Christine Evans

“Vividly imagined…a story of love, family connection and hardship told through eight characters whose lives intersect one fateful afternoon.”

"A toe-curling vision of hell, set in a very contemporary refugee camp."

"Tough, well-written and acted. Mothergun is ‘in your face’ theatre . . . It has a lot to say in a short time."

"The most wrenching aspect of the play is a wild child soldier…Murderously happy, playing his stick rifle like a lethal air guitar… there’s a kind of innocence in how purely savage he has been trained by war to be. The character provides theme and coda to a successfully sustained cymbal crash of this short play. It’s fascinatingly written and performed."

"Passionate, lyrical, witty and above all, adventurous."

"Hauntingly poetic work… an assured, organic chamber piece."

"Don’t miss this locally made masterpiece."

"Powerful visuals and wrenching personal drama . . . in the final scenes the slow falling stops and the soaring begins."

“Stirring and remarkable. Music was superb as was the writing!”

“​[Three Marys] is wonderful material that speaks to our times. The libretto by the US-based Evans is a thing of beauty, a poetic and often greatly affecting collage of impressions, memories and emotions. Greenwell’s music is full of interest and drama, ranging from stretches of serene beauty to agitated atonal sections and hard-hitting slabs of sound."

"I was struck by the success of the many risks the production had taken. [Three Marys] earns a rightful place in Australian opera”.

“​… a story with powerful and poignant relevance today. It is a wonderful work, about exiles, compassion and, finally, love. I went to see it twice in its short three-day season in Sydney.”

“This is an exceptional piece of new music theatre. Its story moving, enraging and one of deep sadness. The music, and the text are haunting and something to be revisited. Along with the up-close performances this is a memorable event from the Sydney Opera House’s commitment to presenting works by Australia’s best independent artists. To resource, draw a team together and deliver this work is incredible. Bravo to all who supported Andrée Greenwell and her undoubted passion.”

"I was struck by the success of the many risks the production had taken. [Three Marys] earns a rightful place in Australian opera”.

“Best thing I’ve seen in years! “

“​[Three Marys] moved me, it thrilled me, it carried me along on the beauty of the music, the singing, the sea setting and its stories of exile, survival, hope and despair. When the lights came up I found myself weeping. I found this a deeply moving work of great beauty and moment. Andrée Greenwell’s sublime score and Christine Evans’ superb libretto. The whole is indeed more than the sum of the parts."

"Absolutely marvellous and riveting. I’m so in awe of the ambition, scope, beauty and scale of the whole enterprise. And to see the three female creators on stage together just gave me goosebumps.”

"…as hard-edged and eloquent as slam poetry… Evans wants us to ask the question no one poses: What happens to women in warfare? She clearly also wants us to think once again about Euripides’ original query concerning the place of war and aggression in a society that sees itself as blessed, just, and righteous."

"It’s rare that something so astoundingly original can come out of an adaptation of an ancient Greek tragedy, yet Trojan Barbie proves how the human experience of loss and love endures in a fresh and captivating way. A modern interpretation of a classic, then, becomes a masterpiece in its own right."

"A hilarious but disturbing look at lives in isolation, full of tragically fractured connections that might inspire you to reach out and touch someone. . . Weightless’s world is simultaneously real and surreal, making the play both familiar and foreign… It’s well acted, well directed and very well-written."

"[A] deeply affective and politically interesting night of theater. The close collaboration between playwright Christine Evans, director Joseph Megel, and media designer Jared Mezzocchi made for a provocative intertwining of virtual and real worlds. I think they did excellent work in seaming the projections, gaming device, and actors together into a cohesive visual and aural landscape. Perhaps they mean to suggest that healing can only occur when the two sides are confronted with one another."

"You Are Dead. You Are Here was one of the best shows I have experienced in 2013. I’ve read the articles in the Science Times about PTSD but never was I this moved and inspired to fully grasp the extent of the suffering that soldiers returning from combat suffer."

"Anyone who thinks it a good idea to become more engaged in the civil war now going on in Syria by sending troops is advised to see You Are Dead. You Are There, a gripping and impassioned new play by Christine Evans [which] uses multi-media to combine real-life with virtual life in a powerful way."