| I was gripped by the fast pace, the intensity and the
contrasting emotional colours of this production. It was funny and it
was harrowing. The play deals with one August
day in 1943 in the lives of seven children, played by adult actors (whom
the playwright Dennis Potter saw as a "magnifying instrument" for
childhood emotions).
 A sense of menace seeps from the grown-up world into
this eternal summer's day, emphasised by the sound of aeroplanes passing
overhead and references to the war; yet the menace also springs from
within the children as they play their own savage power games.
The play is energetic, physical and demanding, with
all characters on stage for much of the time, yet the adult actors of
Next Stage convey west country village children without wavering, either
in body language or speech.
One never loses the belief that one is watching
children and for an adult audience there is a vivid resonance with the
children we all once were.
The intelligent use of onstage space by director Ann
Garner and designer Ian Woods enhances the action, as do Kris Nuttall's
and Sally Hardwick's lighting and sound.
This compelling drama runs until Saturday. |
