While traveling home on an underground train, Carl is forced to defend a young girl from the harassment of a group of men.

"[2] Tim Adams, writing for the Guardian, said, "Garland is very good at recreating the virtual worlds of the half-awake and then subtly dissolving them.

"[3] A reviewer for Bookslut said, "Initially, some of Garland’s motifs and literary devices seemed too elaborate and obscure; yet on a second read they disentangle and shine.

"[4] Scott Lamb, writing for Salon, said, “The Coma is essentially a story composed of a single arc, and this formal tic may, for some, be its big weakness ... What the book lacks in plot twists, though, it makes up for in atmosphere and tone.

The play made heavy use of projected video content to help express the thoughts of Carl, and original music was composed by Alex Cornish.