The North! The North! Summerhall, Review

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Rating (out of 5)
3
Show info
Venue
Company
Christopher Harrisson
Production
Christopher Harrisson (Writer, Performer and illustrator) John Walton(Director) Rebecca Wood (Designer) Zoe Spurr (Lighting Designer) Ben Osborn (Composer and Sound Design)
Performers
Christopher Harrissson
Running time
75mins

Billed as a dark new myth about England, this disturbing tale about an alternate past brings monsters, döppelgangers and an evil Prince into modern England.

In 1985, or so Christopher Harrisson would have us believe, a huge crack appeared across Britain, dividing the North from the South. After years in the southern part, our protagonist ventures north of the crack, summoned by his mother’s death. What awaits him is not your regular quest. Harrisson blends sci-fi, horror, and fairytale in his new ‘myth’ which involves a lot of guns and a sidekick in a holdall. It’s as bizarre as it sounds.

Harrisson is a wonderful performer. The story and animations are all his as well, and the addition of projection to his toy-box set works well with the feel of the piece, and harks back to the origin of the story as a graphic novel. The tale itself comes across as a little Neil Gaiman – some of the things he describes are reminiscent (if a lot more morbid) of Dr Who or Sin City.

While the energy behind it is great, the performance itself is a little unpolished which occasionally disjoints an already fragile story. It is entertaining and exciting new writing, but don’t expect a fairytale.

4th-27th August at 17.50