McManus' adaptation is a success. His characters are fully drawn, he gives the actors rich text to work with, and he skillfully captures the nature of their environment, which itself is almost a character. Under Christopher Brauer’s skilled direction, the A-list cast mines the complex characters for their full worth, and creates some arresting scenes on stagee: a lonely young woman spinning with a pinwheel in hand, alone on New Year’s Eve; a man’s heart silently breaking as he comes face-to-face with betrayal; Masha’s quiet isolation as she watches the world burn around her.

— CBC Radio