You’re sitting in the theatre waiting for the play to start, chatting to a friend, glass of wine in hand. Suddenly, everything goes black and the stage is filled with strobe lights and music and screams; startling, and, somehow, the ideal way to launch you into this unsettling, chaotic, and gripping play.

Alice Sebold’s novel, The Lovely Bones, made a big splash back in 2003, but it had somehow passed me by, so I came to the play knowing the main premise, but not much else. The story is told from the perspective of Susie Salmon, a teenage girl who is raped and murdered by a neighbour, and then watches from heaven as her family members and friends figure out how to go on living their lives without her. Charlotte Beaumont is a marvellous Susie – melodramatic as only a fourteen-year-old can be, even from beyond the grave.

There is a great deal of poignancy in this play: when we realise that Susie’s younger sister, Lindsey, is now older than her, or when she watches her father lose his grip on his world, and her mother begin an affair; but there are also very funny moments throughout. Susie’s school friend Ruth, played by Leigh Lothian, is hilarious, and there is a bizarre sequence in which all the actors play dogs, which adds some lightness. There are a lot of tense moments, particularly those surrounding the murderer, Mr Harvey, and the audience is drawn into this extremely well. The rape and murder scenes are dealt with very sensitively. The overall theme is, of course, dark – but this isn’t a melancholy or depressing play, but rather an interesting exploration of grief and memory from a unique perspective. The ending is a little saccharine, but this doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the show.

The staging of this production of The Lovely Bones is some of the cleverest I’ve seen. A two-way mirror bisects the stage diagonally, so the action can be seen from in front and from above. There is even some shadowy action behind the mirror, which adds to the unsettling quality. The cast is enormous, and the stage can get incredibly busy, but this somehow adds to the overwhelming nature of the narrative, as Susie tries desperately to communicate with her family – to tell them she loves them, that she can still see them, that she knows the man who killed her.

The Lovely Bones is well worth a watch; a highly enjoyable show. Just remember to hold tight for that jump-start!    ★★★★☆   @BookingAround    13^th November 2019