This imaginative play opens on quirky teen, Sparky (Brian Vernel). With his long, thin frame and puppet hands, he is wonderfully awkward. Like the last dog left at the pound, he defies you not to love him.
Sparky’s giant headphones are meant to help him screen out his ADHD, a scramble of white noise and random thoughts he can’t help blurting out. But when he meets bewitching teenager, Siouxsie, he comes to believe he has magic powers himself.
Vernel is a delight - charming, vulnerable and droll. Samantha Foley as Siouxsie is smart, knowing with a pinch of Glasgow grit. Likeable support comes from Pauline Lockhart and Nick Rhys who play teachers and family.
The scenes are witty and engaging and quickly set up the story, in fact sometimes the actors’ narration of the story feels unnecessary. Early on the story feels almost too simple. However this is a highly inventive piece of theatre, which builds in power as it goes on. Director Neil Bettles combines clever staging, choreography and evocative back projection, to create a fluid, dynamic piece of modern theatre. The music and sound design confidently express Sparky’s inner world and, in the closing stages, create an emotional wave that combined with the imagery and performances carries a real charge.
Many of the audience were in their twenties or younger and loved the humour and relatable characters. A busload of teens arrived mid-show and ran like (rather large) mice into their seats as a scene played out on stage.
But this is not just a relatable story for teens. It’s a reminder of what it’s like to have doubts and to understand the world as a mysterious, brutal place where you’ve yet to earn your place. And in its final moments this production generates an electric current between actors and audience that lifts it into the realms of magic.
