The Northcott Theatre is a great starting place to look at new productions and watch shows on a student budget. We had the pleasure of watching the 1927’s production of Please Right Back on opening night.
We went into the production completely blind, not having any idea of what was to come. As we entered the theatre, we were greeted by two women in pointy hats, handing out pencils. Both were wearing white clothes covered in letters, and deadpan expressions. It no longer mattered whether the show was any good, at least we’d come home with free stationary.
The production sought to portray the anxious separation of prisoners from their children, and how this gap can be bridged through storytelling.
This was all very confusing, and we still didn’t know what we were in for…
But for those 120 minutes we were transported to this visually fascinating, complex world of imagination. The production sought to portray the anxious separation of prisoners from their children, and how this gap can be bridged through storytelling. The message was clear from the beginning, the production looked at the problems in society and how we treat relationships between parents and kids in these tough situations.
What was most innovative about this production, was the handcrafted animations of characters which played alongside the actors. The actors interacted with the screen like it was a physical prop, it didn’t feel out of place at all. Sometimes when you are greeted with a screen in a theatre you worry that you’ll end up watching more of a cinema experience than live acting, but that was not the case in this production at all. Everything went seamlessly together.
Everything went seamlessly together.
Davey, the small animated boy, reminiscent of Charlie and Lola, interacted with the actors. The cohesive portrayal of the story felt realistic and believable even through this cartoonish lens.
Another amazing aspect was that the show was performed completely by four actors, a fact that shocked us both when it came to the end bows.
Towards the end of the show, the mother character gives this long speel about the message of the play. We thought it felt a bit out of place, the message was shown throughout the play and we didn’t need the exact ideas spelt out for us.
Overall the play was fun and pulled us into the story from the beginning. We’d recommend watching any performance from 1927, but the cast of Please Right Back will head across the UK including Leeds and London in the coming weeks, catch it if you can.
