Captain Amazing – Southwark Playhouse

Good for a laugh and great for a cathartic sob, Alistair McDowall’s Captain Amazing takes only a few minutes (65 give or take) of bedtime storytelling to spin back time and create a whole new universe. The world of Captain Amazing is a sparse one. He goes to work at a store and tells people not to buy things they don’t need, brings chain vouchers on his dates, and lives in an apartment with one chair (and another upstairs if you want him to go and get it). He’s not one to take a stand or cause a fuss but he’ll do his darndest to save an innocent life.

Directed by Clive Judd and produced by Matthew Schmolle Productions in partnership with charities working on male mental health and support for single parents, this production is extraordinary. Mark Weinman’s chimerical performance as Captain Amazing is as arresting and expansive as the written material is captivating and heart breaking.

Neither a pure memory play nor a strict dramatic lecture, this performance is scattered across several times, places, and characters but beautifully anchored to the emotional ache at its titular character’s centre. Projections by Will Monks stimulate and heighten the unfolding action and a truly spectacular set by designer Georgia de Grey contains the bigger than life antics and the domestic tearjerker that interplay in Captain Amazing’s realm of imagination. Captain Amazing aims straight for the heart and hits its mark with super-heroic force.

Playing until 25th May, https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/

Reviewer: Kira Daniels

Reviewed: 2nd May 2024

North West End UK Rating: