Reviewed by Nigel Chester
Once again Nottingham Playhouse staged a play so blisteringly brilliant that I have found myself telling total strangers that they must go. The checkout lady in Sainsbury’s (other supermarkets are available) looked quite bemused.
Skellig I can honestly say I had never heard of it before I booked tickets, how, I don’t know, I must have been living under a rock; or maybe its because of my age, quite mature if you’re wondering. Skellig is a multiple prize-winning children’s book, by author David Almond, first published in 1998.
It’s story, quite simple at first glance, is deep and dark and complexed.
A young boy, Michael (Sam Swann) finds his life turned upside down when his parents move to a new house to the other side of town, fortunately he can still attend his current school but now he has to catch a bus, with all the traumas that that can bring. Then his mother delivers the baby she’s carrying early. Instead of the newly renovated home and bouncing baby that had been promised Michael finds himself living in a dilapidated house with dangerous out-buildings and a jungle of a garden and a very poorly sister. Dreams shattered. His parents are lovely and loving; Mum, Nottingham actress Tina Harris would get my mother of the year award. Tina beautifully crafts the role but cannot be in two places at once and Michael finds himself alone with Dad (Simon Darwen), who is distracted by the whole overwhelming situation.
Michael’s story continues with the introduction of two key characters, the confidant home schooled next-door neighbour Mina (Kate Okello), whose love of all creatures and William Blake know no bounds and whose current obsession are birds. The second character, Michael discovers in the dilapidated garage, the person/thing that is Skellig, unsure of what he has seen, offers help. Food is provided, 27 and 53 from the local takeaway menu, aspirin and brown ale, nectar of the gods.
The audience are never aware of what Skellig is, or does, but Michael seeks his help in looking over his desperately ill sister and, at his lowest point, Mina is his partner encouraging him and understanding him in a way his school friends Coot (Tanya Vital) and Leakey (Lauren Waine) don’t. When Michael starts to show real signs of stress, they deride him as wagging school.
During our evening we are magically transported to several key places in Michael’s world, his home and school the garden and lonely dinners just him and Dad, 27 and 53. But also to the mysterious Danger house. What Skellig is, is really irrelevant, what Skellig is to Michael is the crux of the story.
So, Nottingham Playhouse, it made the stage into the most stunning set I have ever seen it was a huge nest, it was a hoarder’s house with toilet and fridge sharing the same room. It became a school and a bus. In the Danger house it became pure magic.
How sad am I that I haven’t known Skellig for the last twenty years how glad am I that my first encounter with him was so completely and utterly amazing. I could tell you of the puppetry, I could tell you about the perfect lighting, but mostly I want to tell you to go. Take your children, take your parents, but make sure you take yourself.
Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost from £8.50 to £30.50 (booking fees may apply).
Skellig is at the Nottingham Playhouse from 22 March to 7 April 2019, for more information or to book tickets visit www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk or call the box office on 0115 941 9419.
Nottingham Playhouse, Wellington Circus, Nottingham, NG1 5AF | 0115 941 9419
