This play adapted from a children’s novel is billed to “...surprise, delight and move audiences of all ages” so I figured that, fitting this broad category, I may very well enjoy it - and I certainly did.
Good theatre has the capacity to transport us to other worlds and let us see life from another angle and this piece does so with a minimum of resources and truck-loads of magic.
“I was a rat!” declares a boy, arriving unexpected at the door of an aging couple who are just minding their own business. With the help of a huge cast of policemen, newspaper hacks, dodgy travelling entertainers, judge, jury, townspeople, civic officials, a princess and a family of rats, we follow him through a series of fantastical adventures and from autumn through to summer, until we finally discover why he should make this peculiar claim.
We know it’s happening all the way through, but when the entire complement of just eight actors take their call at the end we are still left wondering quite where everyone came from and just exactly how they managed to play this trick on our minds.
There is no physical scenery on the matt black stage, but a “light set” in which everything is suggested by exceptionally clever use of a complex and detailed lighting plot designed by Vincent Longuemare. I believe I said to someone yesterday that I am used to smoke and mirrors on the stage, but that this production achieves everything with just the smoke, and I am standing by the remark. Everything that appears before us is so very real but at the same time ephemeral, appearing and disappearing before our eyes. Teresa Ludovico has created a journey through the seasons of the year that mirrors the emotional temperature of the storyline.
Costume designs by Luigi Spezzacatene are equally striking, requiring actors to do frequent quick changes in the wings. They are like something from the illustrations in a fairytale, albeit at times a rather dark one, and they set the tone and style for the tale, prompting us to set our imaginations in top gear. The fairytale aspect is taken to the limit by the appearance of the princess who helps unravel the tale toward the end. I won’t spoil it for anyone, but must say that the entrance of this character is one of the most magical pieces of stagecraft I have seen in a long while and, along with a glorious snow storm, goes to demonstrate how well the less is more principle works in this show.
Frank Moon’s musical score is largely pre-recorded but is supported by live playing by members of the cast on a variety of instruments – ever seen a man standing on a four foot high chair playing a cello? The music has a suitably folk-tale style about it and adds to the edginess of the performance.
There may be no physical set, but this is an incredibly physical production. There is a lot of dance, mime and movement on the stage and the actors must surely burn off the calories doing it. I spoke to Dodger Phillips from the cast after the show and asked if it was physically draining but he explained how well they are able to draw on each other’s energy to get through it. This makes perfect sense, as it is a remarkably well choreographed ensemble piece.
The entire cast give tremendous performances, but it is 17 year old Fox Jackson-Keen who steals the show with his unfeasibly brilliant Roger – the Rat Boy of the title. One moment he is standing talking, the next he has slithered under a chair and is chewing on newspaper. Now hiding under furniture – then popping up behind someone’s ear. It is hard to believe that anyone could manage to have us suspend our disbelief like this, but somehow he does it. A former occupant of the role of Billy Elliott on the Victoria Palace stage with a grounding in gymnastics, he has all the dancing ability you might expect and more, and he carries off some remarkably acrobatic stage movement as well. We are captivated by his portrayal of this mysterious central character and he holds the audience in the palm of his hand.
Fire up your imagination, leave reality outside in the street, and prepare to be transported somewhere amazing and magical by this extraordinary evening of storytelling and illusion.
I Was A Rat runs at the Liverpool Playhouse until Saturday 23rd March and then continues touring via Bury St Edmunds, Truro, Cambridge, Salford Quays, Exeter, Leeds and Hereford until 1st June.
Visit www.everymanplayhouse.com or www.iwasarat.co.uk for booking information, tour dates and venues.
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