Survivor

The Arts Desk“Aimlessness is the more annoying for being evidently so very costly...” Survivor has a sentimental, vacuous bombast to it - Lordy, it even has the performers la-la-ing "God Save the Queen". Is it possible for a show with 200 drummers to be a damp squib? It is now.

this is london“The music is loud in volume but weak in content...” There is a sense of struggle, oppression and human fragility in the immensity of nature. And one intensely powerful section - particularly with yesterday's announcement of alleged British involvement in rendition and torture in Libya.

The Telegraph“A grand, sprawling, chaotic piece with some truly stunning sequences...” The training of a camera on the audience felt slapdash and obvious, the much-heralded 100-plus drummers on stage belonged to an entirely different piece, and the very small ensemble of dancers felt under-used.

Guardian“Feels both underdeveloped and bloated...” It is hard to tell whether Gormley's involvement has made Shechter's vague notions more monumental, or a big idea more vague. "We want everyone watching and listening to feel uncertainty about what was happening," writes Gormley in the programme.

The Observer“Insistently asks that we reconsider, see the world from new angles...” The music is prodigious: an exhilarating mix of drumming (we were supplied with earplugs) and a mutiny of bittersweet strings. It is full of marvellous contesting sounds. The bedrock is rock rhythms offset by a Gypsy lyricism.