Saturday 12 March 2016

Review: Stowaway at Washington Arts Centre



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Part Of The Family…
Stowaway
Washington Arts Centre
Friday 11th March 2016


Analogue Theatre’s Stowaway is both uncompromising and unsentimental exploration of two different worlds. One in which there is some help and support if your circumstances need it. The other is where economic migration is necessary for survival. 

Andy Fielding (Steven Rae) is a tradesman who has been recently made unemployed.  He decides to pop along to B&Q to pick up some paint in order to decorate his daughter’s bedroom. When he crosses the DIY store’s car park, an aeroplane, preparing to land, flies overhead, a body lands in front of him. The blood splattered remains of young Aditya (Devesh Kishore) haunt him. Why did he fall through the sky? What were the authorities going to do about it? Will has wife Debbie (Balvinder Sopal) understand? On that flight was writer Lisa (Hannah Donaldson) who decides to investigate why a body fell out of the plane.

Hannah Barker and Lewis Hetherington have written and directed a play that explores both the effects on the British people who were traumatised by what they saw and goes back to explore the origins of the incident. It hacks away at the headlines in the tabloid media and asks why someone would feel a need to move away from their loved ones and support network. Why would someone feel the need to travel across the world to find work?

There is no interval, no artificial pause in the action. A few recent productions have done this rather than stretch the show over 2 hours and this is to be applauded. The sound design, by Philip Pinsky, adds news reports and phone calls to help narrate the action without overloading the exposition.

This is an emotive play. The pregnant pause once the action finished whilst everyone reflected on the situation was telling. The vibrant show leaves more questions than it answers about society. Worth checking out.

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo.


On The Web:
Twitter: @analogue_  #stowaway

Tickets:
The tour continues:
Seaton Delaval Arts Centre - Sat 12 Mar, 7.30pm



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