York Theatre Royal – until 13th April 2018
Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
3***
York is known for Its active role of community within theatre, with some projects having up to 200 volunteers. Legacy is the latest show to involve members of the community, the show involved the York Theatre Royal Youth group and a range of people over the age of 65, this collaboration is a first for York Theatre Royal. Legacy is a Trillion Pound company that works in advanced technology, but somethings don’t add up and their company ethic is questionable.
The cast made up of all members of the York community, involved the two age groups that normally have distance because of technology and culture, the reason to use the two contrasting groups in this topic was a bold idea, and there was a very strong difference in some of the characters. The large cast which is made up of nearly 40 people, involved a chorus of ‘perfect’ children which have been raised by Legacy. The use of chorus was very impressive with a large group of people working in unison, this created an impactful message about technology how they all worked together, it seemed like they were more machine than human. A few of the younger actors who had characters such as Hannah Brown, Robert Sinkinson and Adam Kane, gave performances that added to the show through the display of character and projection. The older portion of the cast also had a great few actors who showed what the people of York can do, Shirley William who plays one of the main character Simone, took on a large role and delivered complexity and made sure she was heard. Other actors who stood out were Rory Mulvhill and Ian Giles. The only issue I had with the acting of the show is that there were some pacing issues and because of this scenes felt dead.
The Adventurous topic can be very hard to work with as the dystopian genre can be very hard to replicate on stage, during most of the show I was drawn in, but some scenes felt out of place and unnecessary, however that being the complex plot felt like I was watching what could soon become our future, I enjoyed putting together pieces of the puzzle and watching how the play unfolds. The set was very bleak and mirrored the ‘perfect’ aspect of the play, what I did find really interesting was the use of several monitors during some scenes, this use of technology during the performance fitted and made the character of Blackthorne seem like a God compared to the actors on stage.
York had always had a great community when it comes to theatre, and one of the main reasons is because of York Theatre Royal, this was by far the most abstract that they have created, to watch the show you have to think and make yourself aware to the issues. I loved the use of the two polar groups from those under the age of 19 and those above the age of 65, proving that theatre brings people together.