Rhythms are sometimes dazzling in their intricacy and executed with wit and panache. ‘Instruments’ vary from matchboxes to oil drums: one of my favourites was a little number, performed in the dark using Zippo style lighters which created not only rhythms, but also clever patterns as the lighters lit . . . with such a highly polished and entertaining set of routines the audience can simply marvel at the immaculate conception and execution.
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Peter Whelan’s successful 1996 play, which had its first outing as an RSC production and is here revived for a tour, takes the marital problems of the bard’s daughter, Susanna (Emma Lowndes), as it’s starting point. Susanna made an apparently enviable match with a certain, Doctor John Hall, a moderate Puritan, but an ecclesiastical court record of Susanna’s trial for adultery is enough to suggest that all was not well within the Hall’s marriage bed.
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Trainspotting is, strangely, given its darkly comic depiction of utter depravity and tragedy, a play of hope. A hope that however lost a piece of humanity seems, there lurks within a yearning for choosing life over nihilism . . . Fans of the book and film will not be disappointed with this compelling example of ‘immersive’ theatre.
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There is a sense in which ‘children’s theatre’ is the most important kind there is. Waiting for the show to start and gazing at the circus big-top setting one can relax knowing that in Sally Cookson the responsibility could not be in better hands. Katie Sykes’ inviting set presages the usual Cookson 3-D extravaganza. There is no disappointment . . . If there are young ones in your family this will be one of the best chances you will have of getting them hooked on live theatre. Go See!
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If you liked the film you’ll like the show, which gives you all the extra pizazz that only live theatre can deliver, and if you love ABBA it’s a must. Sentimental without being maudlin, great fun whilst keeping a sense of purpose, atmospheric lighting and bright costumes and with an uncluttered yet evocative set – everything conspires to make this great entertainment with a score few other recent musicals can match.
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