Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me – Summerhall

Ben Harrison and David Paul Jones were both teenagers in the 1980s. Both felt suffocated by their respective small towns, and both found solace in the music of the time. Harrison tells a selection of stories from his youth, and Jones performs his own interpretations of some of those songs. It’s a nostalgic revisit to a vibrant era that now seems defined by its contrasts.

Emery Hunter’s integrated BSL interpretation drew me in right from the start. I am not a BSL user, but to me, her performance felt like poetry. Her flowing movements were beautiful to watch, with a rhythm that synchronised with the others on stage, but delightful in their own right. I hope that I will have more chances to see BSL poetry in future.

Jones has taken well-known songs and made them his own, from the title track, originally created by The Smiths, to Madonna’s Like a Prayer. We learn that Jones’s teenage bedroom was bedecked with 110 posters of Madonna. Harrison and Jones’s voices create beautiful harmonies together, accompanied by cellist Juystina Jabolnska. The music feels melancholic and invites stillness. Jones also contributes a brief, hilarious, portrayal of Harrison’s pet cat.

Harrison tells us about his crush on a girl who worked with horses. He woefully compares his own skinny frame to that of the athletic creature. ‘The powerful muscles ripple under the shiny black coat,’ he says. We hear about schoolboy pranks, his first love, and the tragedy of his father. I loved the eulogy to his grandmother, a formidable woman who took up gliding at the age of 65.

This was an excellent piece of theatre, that spoke of memory, and loss, and our search for meaning as we reimagine our former selves. Summerhall – Open Minds Open Doors, Edinburgh

Reviewer: Wendy McEwan

Reviewed: 23^rd September 2024

North West End UK Rating: