9th June The ocean at the end of the lane


Sometimes things can catch you off guard and as a result produce / provoke unexpected results. Last night I had such an experience having travelled into Nottingham to see an adaptation of Neil Gaimans' The Ocean at the end of the Lane' at the Theatre Royal. 

It was a ticket I had purchased several months ago, a spur of the moment decision based on a very vague memory of having enjoyed reading the book and also some great reviews from its run at the National Theatre. 

Come the night of the performance, having had a poor nights sleep the evening before and with a mounting pile of things to do for work, I set off to catch the tram with the feeling that this was one little jolly I could perhaps have done without. How wrong was I?

It was a stunning evening of staging, effects, thunderous music, smoke, giant puppets, wonderfully creative use of space and simple and yet incredibly effective props. Just like when Pi leapt from the boat and 'disappeared' into the floor of the stage during the fabulous theatre version of 'The Life of Pi', so this particular show had a handful of jaw dropping moments that had me thinking to myself...'What the f&%k?'.

And the animated chatter in the audience at the close of the first half sugested I wasn't alone in my astonishment. So its a real shame that the stalls in the theatre were less then 2/3rds full. Maybe it is the cost of living crisis, maybe its the fantasy nature of the book that put people off, I don't know. What I do know is that those who like me were in two minds whether they should attend or not, missed an absolute belter.

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