Reviewed by Kathryn Harrison
Last night a friend and I visited the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool to watch The Big I Am, the fourth show of the wonderful Everyman Company 2018 season. This was my first visit to the Everyman Theatre and I was very impressed by the venue. As you walk in there is a restaurant downstairs and a bar upstairs, the venue feels very open and welcoming with lots of places to sit and catch up with friends before the performance begins.
As we entered the auditorium I was pleasantly surprised to discover that unlike traditional theatres, the stage at the Everyman is in the centre of the room with the audience seated in a circle surrounding it. This made the performance even more stimulating as the audience got a full 360° view of the action as well as allowing the cast members to enter and exit the stage in any direction, leading to some interesting interactions between the cast and the audience. As there wasn’t access to a conventional type of set, the company uses imaginative ways with props and scene changes to transport the audience from one setting to the next.
The story begins with the birth of Peer Gynt during the Second World War and follows him through his life at various intervals whirlwinding through time and geography as he tries to discover himself, often getting lost along the way. I particularly enjoyed the earlier parts of the play where we see the interaction between Peer Gynt, at this point played by the brilliant Nathan McMullen, and his Ma, fabulously acted by Keddy Sutton. Nathan McMullen was perfect as the young Peer Gynt, seeming to totally embody the character. His soliloquies gave us insight into the mindset of the character and were bursting with energy and anticipation of where his life was going to take him.
The action then moves onto a wedding and provides some of the funniest moments in the performance, I loved the chemistry and dialogue between Liam Tobin playing, in this scene, Father and Golda Rosheuvel as Mother. They were both equally hilarious and the fight scene that followed on from this was brilliantly choreographed and executed. Throughout the play all of the actors take on different roles and do so flawlessly. Often when an actor changes character or more so when a character changes actor it can be confusing for the audience to follow who is who but this certainly wasn’t the case in The Big I Am.
The inspiration for The Big I Am is the Norwegian fairy tale and play, Peer Gynt. This was a bold and interesting reimagination of a complex story however if, like myself, you have never heard of Peer Gynt until now you can definitely enjoy The Big I Am as a stand alone play. The play is a complete mix of emotions catapulting from humour, to drama, to sadness and despair. Watching Peer Gynts life unfold was a complete rollercoaster of feelings toward the character,at times you could empathise with him, despise him or pity him constantly flitting between these emotions. I don’t feel I would have enjoyed this story as much if it wasn’t for the superb acting and direction of the Everyman Company and I will definitely be on the lookout for their performances in the future.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £10 to £32 (booking fees may apply).
The Big I Am is at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool from 16 June to 14 July 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.everymanplayhouse.com or call the box office on 0151 709 4776.
Liverpool Everyman, 5-11 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BH | 0151 709 4776
