The Silents interweaves three intimate stories of personal transformation: a dedicated researcher gives it all up to climb mountains, a trapped housewife finds her little piece of magic on the way to the launderette, and a troubled office worker returns to his childhood home to rediscover the magic he has lost in his adult life. More than that, though, they are cleverly interwoven to tell a larger story about finding the magic.According to the programme, they were developed from workshops and blogs with a variety of people, but in particular, people who have suffered from mental health issues. I read this with trepidation, thinking it was going to be a piece of issue theatre - but thankfully it wasnt.The end result of these processes is presented in a deceptively simple narrative style, but it also cleverly preserves some elements of the devising processes, giving it a spontaneous feel and leaving the actors scope to follow their instincts on the night. With an almost bare stage, the cast do a very good job of bringing it to life. All were convincing and conveyed a sense of wonder at their journeys and discoveries.The performance was very good, but I was fortunate to meet the director, Rachel Parish, afterwards, and gained a lot more insight into the piece and its development. She was such a whirlwind of enthusiasm and delight in her work, its a shame that everybody cant have the same insights as she gave me.
