Please Right Back is awesome.
Comics, film, animation and music are magically and seamlessly interwoven in this touching, visually addictive family tale.
Join Mr E as he explains his absence through vividly imagined tall tales, swallowed whole by his loving offspring. A 1927 and Burgtheatre Vienna joint production, Please Right Back was written by Suzanne Andrade. This creation is based, loosely, on her own experience.
The company, 1927, was founded in 2005 by co-artistic directors, Andrade (Writer and Director) and Paul Barritt (Film, Animation and Design). They work out of London and that not-to-be-forgotten seaside town of Margate in Kent with its sunshine, sand, funfair and ice cream cones. Known internationally for their repertoire in theatre and opera, this multi-award winning collaboration is a hot ticket.
Their amazing mix of live musical theatre and animation has traversed over fifty countries with the joie de vivre and creative abandon of a fairground bumper car, leaving its mark as it passes. Their originality is refreshing and their execution fast-paced while being in no way trivial. They have worked with The Young Vic, Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, Salzburg Festival, EIF, Spoleto Festival and Home Manchester. They are exemplars of that the old cliché: It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it.
With just four actors and a clutch of brilliant concepts, the story of Kim and Davey’s broken family is intriguing, entertaining, moving and full of heart. Reality collides painfully with fantasy as a roller-coaster of tales gushes forth to fill the void of an unpalatable truth.
I will be seeking out this artistic duo again and again, just like the Russian visitor sitting next to me who marveled at them on their sojourn in her country.
If you love theatre and revel in inspiring inventiveness, fight for your ticket to this compelling brainchild of a winning duo. If you fail to secure a seat in Edinburgh this month, you can catch them in Newcastle in October.
Reviewer: Kathleen Mansfield
Reviewed: 7th August 2024
North West End UK Rating: