Jan 2019
The cast is superb. Val Landrum is excellent as Fazila, the owner of the store who’s struggling to relate to her daughter and has recently started having visions of her dead husband (Ben Newman). She gets the big dramatic moment of the show, a monologue that she delivers exquisitely. Sharonlee McLean is also perfectly cast as Uma, the oldest member of the group and the one who provides both perspective and humor. And those chills I mentioned? All thanks to Croatian-born actress Mia Zara. Zlata is the group’s karaoke singer, and Zara’s magnificent and haunting rendition of a certain 90s grunge song had the whole audience holding their breath.
Krista Garver, Broadway World
April 2013
The strength of this production is thus due to the success of its lead actress Mia Zara, who turns in an astonishing performance with the material available to her. Croatian born, Miss Zara has the merest hint of a mid-European accent that adds a deliciously piquant authenticity to her performance. Her presence is often chilling and her mastery of a massive script, spellbinding. Sporting complexion perfection and a perfectly formed physique, she is as captivating to watch as to listen to and when this play reminds one of old Hammer movies set in Magyar vampire country, it is easy to imagine Zara as a classic Hammer glamour starlet.
Jonathan Baz, The Public Review
Zara is also spellbinding as the murderous Countess and was actually called in from Croatia to do the role. I couldn’t think of a better casting choice for Elizabeth. Zara brought so much sensuality that it seemed to be dripping from her in every movement she made on stage. She also had just the right hint of an Eastern European accent and would dip in and out of her incredibly deep vocal range, giving her a sense of authority but always staying right on the edge of madness. The moment she comes out dripping in blood reminded me of another mythical and powerful woman, Lady McBeth, another woman with blood on her hands, only Bathory doesn’t even attempt to wash it off.
Theatre review, Melissa Palleschi
Mia Zara makes for an amazing Countess Bathory, shifting from the innocent, free spirited and cheerful teenager who believes in love and plays with the idea of marriage into the ruthless, cunning and arrogant Countess. I wouldn’t fathom they could have cast a better actress, not only because of her great beauty and her underlying, subtle Croatian accent but also her acting skills. It takes more than a costume to bring the countess to life and, in my opinion, she made a better one than Anna Friel.
Theatre in London.co.uk
Mia Zara absolutely dominates the evening as the charismatic and mysterious Elizabeth Bathory. Her transition from the naïve, young girl to the embittered, tough but beautiful Countess is impressive.
UK Theatre Network, Carolin Kopplin
Centre of the whole play is the entrancing Mia Zara as Bathory, who delivers a complex and seductive performance. She charts the character’s progress from naive young girl to crazed Countess with a flawless precision. Her final moments on stage are a beautifully poetic touch.
Alain English
2011 reviews
The Black Cat hits the perfect note. The family situation, the gender of the narrator, the dark deeds are all adapted, but the best of Poe’s writing is preserved and above all the quality of the lucid yet raving narrative. In Mia Zara’s mesmerising vocal and physical performance under Andy McQuade’s sensitive direction we get the full, claustrophobic Poe experience. – remotegoat.co.uk
“Macabre Resurrections is an extraordinary night’s entertainment quite unlike anything else in London, probably unlike anything anywhere.” WESTENDBROADWAY
The Black Cat in which the narrator is changed to a woman, is notable for an admirable solo performance by local actor Mia Zara, who is compelling in her lengthy monologue as the deranged yet calculating villain.”- Hackney Citizen.