First things first: this show is not for the faint of heart. David Lee Morgan's heart is anything but faint. Analysing the legacy of Communism by invoking Marx and Lenin and elaborating on Che Guevara's assertion that 'revolution must come from a place of deep love', Morgan shows us where mankind has been and asks us where we're going next.
Science, Love and Revolution should all unquestioningly be forces for good, but too often - as Morgan demonstrates - all three are warped beyond their original intent. With a mixture of slam poetry and a little song, he shows us how great ideas can become intellectual property, and that by giving something a price tag we can make it worthless.
A few unconnected lists of words at the beginning of the act were worryingly abstract and hinted at attempted absurdity, but don't be too worried; the remainder of the show is made up of elaborate character monologues and incarnations of abstract concepts, not just reams of seemingly random words. We are taken from the dark ages to enlightenment to the dimming of the lights, and posed the question: In an age of freethought, do we think at all?
It is perhaps this intensity of feeling and potential for darkness which spurred Morgan to include music in the act, but this never quite gels with other unaccompanied pieces and seems to serve absolutely no purpose. The odd saxophone solo is out of time and often out of place with the remainder of the show.
When he sticks to his fast-paced words, Morgan is a rabble-rouser, an excellent speaker and a great weaver of ideas. Even the seemingly apolitical Saint Nick is mentioned as a communist ideal - 'I mean, he wears red after all'. Complex debates against democracy and twisted histories of capitalism are explained to us simply and poetically, and our audience leaves with the strange urge to form a picket line.
