What Light, a dystopian play set in 2061, is the result of a collaboration between Pilot Theatre in York and Elsinor Teatro in Milan and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.
It forms part of Platform 11, a European theatre project for young people whereby 13 companies from across 12 countries are joining together.
The quality of the 55-minute play is not in question. Suitable for nine year olds and upwards, the writing by Richard Hurford and Giuditta Mingucci is tight for a story about two warring families, comprised of a grandparent and grandchild. The parents are mysteriously absent, their absence attributed to the “sickness” that claimed their lives.
Both Grandpas (Chris Towner-Jones and Sean Wildey) are obsessed with their “stuff”, which is ironic, because they manifestly don’t have any stuff, as Ilaria Ariemme’s grim spare set and tattered clothes make clear.
One grandpa is menacing and violent, torturing his 14-year-old grandson, Sid (Daniel Cameron), and inciting him to hate the family across the way, whilst his opposite number is more subtle, seeking to manipulate his granddaughter (Lynsey-Anne Moffat) by making her feel sorry for him. They are grotesque, and our sympathy lies firmly with the two grandchildren, whose lives are defined by their antipathy.
As the children break free, aware of a better life somewhere beyond, the grandfathers are left alone, poignantly emptying old back-sacks full of old notebooks and schoolboy detritus.
The play’s message is rather heavy-handed: “Spend too much time looking out for number one and fearing others, and you will wind up sad and alone, like these tragic old men”.
However, my favourite scene in Katie Posner’s production is the puppet show with pop stars Jay Z, Justin Bieber, Kylie and Beyoncé, done as giant papier-maché masks. It is meant to show us the emptiness of our celebrity worship, but the message is subverted as it is infinitely more fun hearing the grandpas rapping and singing than the more worthy preaching that constitutes the rest of the play.
What Light completed its May 11 to 21 run in York last Saturday and will move on to Elsinor Teatro Stabile D’innovazione, Milan, on June 6 and 7 and Theatre Junge Generation, Dresden, from June 15 to 18.
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