” . . . A Passion for Birmingham is difficult to describe; one’s religious orientation and political position bear more weight in forming one’s opinion of this Old Joint Stock production than perhaps any other this year . . . Preaching to the unconverted is often a problem paramount to the most adroit dramaturgy, but A Passion for Birmingham maintains a commitment to immersive storytelling and boasts enough strong central performances and great music to impress.”

” . . . The story is a literary classic, but the Company were finely attuned to that burden, in which many of the audience may “know the story” without knowing the story in its intricacies. I last studied the play in school. There were questionnaires before and after querying the audience’s relationships with the play. While the immersive experience perhaps made it less likely to come away knowing the ins-and-outs, its major plot points were scenes displayed for the group as a whole . . . Overall, a bold and interesting production, variable in quality. . . ”

” . . . Circus music plays, a silhouette of a clown acting out a sequence of seemingly unfunny moves plays out, a Nazi salute, mock-gunfire, death, an angel’s wings unfurling. For some reason, laughter and applause rings out on the speakers . . . Nigel Francis acts and directs this piece of theatre that is low-key and ambitious, tragic and comic, perhaps forty years too long yet too short to convey its protagonist’s depths. It is difficult to term. Francis does a fine job . . . He is masterful in his delivery of the beauty of the script, evoking cityscapes and distinct characters in a breath . . . “

” . . . There are some lovely touches throughout the performance, not least the fact that the very mean, very hungry dragon is also very Welsh. The re-use of materials and colours (and, of course, actors) threads a motif throughout the show, implying a little blurring of fictionality and reality. This might all be a dream of one of the campers, or so it seems. . . A good show, performed with an abundance of warmth, energy and love for the original material. . .”