Cate Blanchett as a hopeless nobody is just one of the  surprises in this amazing production. (…) But when played by an actor of the extraordinary emotional agility and range of Cate Blanchett, the role of Lotte dazzles as a star vehicle, reverberates in the ear as a prose poem, and touches us deeply as a meditation on the squirming position of a single human being. (…)Blanchett's art is so strong that she soon transcends her Hollywood reputation and becomes, convincingly, a hopeless nobody. Time out Sydney online. Updated on 22 Nov 2011.

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During the opening scene of Groß und Klein you sense immediately that Cate Blanchett's portrayal of the alienated, lonely Lotte is something very special. By the end of the play, she has taken you on such an extraordinary journey that you walk almost dazed from the theatre  knowing it's a performance you will never forget. (…)

This Sydney Theatre Company production features a dynamic new adaptation by British playwright Martin Crimp, which is very funny at times particularly in Blanchett's hands. German designer Johannes Schutz has created a series of skeletal white sets that cleverly evoke each scene while locating them in a discomforting, dark void. It's a wonderful design (with beautifully observed costumes by Alice Babidge, lighting by Nick Schlieper and soundscape by Max Lyandvert) in which director Benedict Andrews conjures a pro-duction full of haunting images and surprising moments. There are well-judged supporting performances from a marvellous cast of 14 among them Lynette Curran, Anita Hegh, Belinda McClory, Josh McConville, Robert Menzies, Richard Pyros and Christopher Stollery. However, the play stands or falls by its Lotte and Blanchett is riveting in a performance of extraordinary bravery, extending her renowned physical and vocal dexterity beyond anything we have seen from her before to create a character slightly out of kilter. She dances in gawky, ungainly fashion, she pins an ample woman to the floor, she does battle with a panel of door buzzers, she laughs and weeps. Hyper-emotional, skittish, fragile yet resilient, increasingly unhinged by disappointment, Lotte's unsha-keable optimism in the face of so much rejection is heartbreaking, yet she finally seems to achieve a kind of serenity. Many in the opening night audi-ence seemed bemused or alienated by the play. But Andrews' pro-duction is first-rate and Blanchett's performance is truly remarkable.  Sunday Telegraph 27/11/2011

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Cate delivers a whole Lotte entertainment

with Blanchett's exquisite comic timing, director Benedict Andrews' brilliant vision and a strong ensemble cast, this is a ripper. The Daily Telegraph