HEARING VOICES  Queen Elizabeth Hall  -  "gripping”  Times

SOUND AND SPACE  LSO St. Lukes  -  “striking, unusual…happily defiant of categorization”  Times

FABLES, A FILM OPERA  Streetwise Opera  -  “superbly directed”  Times

FLAM  flamproductions.com  -  “moving and arresting….wonderfully playful”  Times

FINGERPRINT  ROH Linbury Studio  -  “light, free-flowing…stunning”  Guardian

CRITICAL MASS  Almeida  -  “a tremendous achievement”  Independent

THE WEDDING  Southwark Playhouse  -  “snappy and witty”  Times

CAKE  BAC  -  “wonderful”  Evening Standard

‘THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING’ Streetwise Opera, 2013

 “It is a hallmark British trait that the graver the issue, the more flippant its treatment, and the message here could hardly be more serious: there is no "solution" to homelessness without each individual being accorded their proper dignity and freedom. The show expresses this truth by using arias to break through the ironic surface to create and comment on the moral bonds between all of us. When life's invisible people stop to sing – be it a janitor (Elizabeth Watts) singing Handel, or a frail chorus singing Gavin Bryars' setting of Walt Whitman's Open Road – we see them as individuals with problems, rather than problematic statistics. Streetwise Opera helps its members to see themselves this way, too, in an encounter of undeniable beauty.”
The Guardian ****

‘SOUND AND SPACE’ by Alexander Balanescu, Evelina Petrova and Gisele Edwards at LSO St. Lukes 2011  “…striking, unusual, fun,and happily defiant of categorisation.” The Times****

‘FABLES- A FILM OPERA’ by Streetwise Opera 2010
“ ..superbly directed by Emma Bernard” The Times****

‘FINGERPRINT’ by Orlando Gough and Emma Bernard 2007

“Director Emma Bernard gives Fingerprint a light, free-flowing shape that complements Gough's compositional methods: the deeper, darker moments spring naturally from the movement and drama; the words are more about sound than meaning. Simple staging (blackboard, chairs) and back projections make it look stunning.” The Guardian ****

‘CRITICAL MASS’ by Orlando Gough and Emma Bernard 2007

“Funny, wry, sad and startling, it was as powerful and timely a plea for the tolerance of loners and outsiders as I have encountered on the stage."
The Times (pick of the year 2007)

“Critical Mass – relevant, intelligent, touching, powerful – should be widely seen. A tremendous achievement.” Independent *****

‘CAKE’, by Sarah Woods, Jade Theatre Co, 2003/ 2005.

“ Cake certainly takes the biscuit as one of the most original productions of the year, and might yet take a few awards too”
The Guardian ****

“…Emma Bernard’s wonderful production……Let everyone eat this wonderful Cake”
The Evening Standard

“Visually it’s deliciously bizarre……..Nobody could help being enraptured by it.”
The Financial Times

‘THE WEDDING’ by Virgilio Pinera, directed by Emma Bernard for Scarlet Theatre,2003.

“Emma Bernard’s production is snappy and witty……a skilfully realised production…
full of painful truths about life and love”
The Times

“Director Emma Bernard’s choreographic flourishes complement the playful absurdities of Pinera’s yarn perfectly” Time Out

“Emma Bernard’s nifty and quirky production for Scarlet Theatre….well observed physicality out of the gestures of social embarrassment”
Evening Standard