Theatre Review: Fair And Tender, Jackass Youth Theatre, Bishop Auckland Town Hall (From The Northern Echo)

Theatre Review: Fair And Tender, Jackass Youth Theatre, Bishop Auckland Town Hall

2:27pm Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Reviews By Duncan Leatherdale

CHILLING and deep but that Death fellow is a funny guy – my summations of this performance.

I will not pretend that I understood all that went on.

This was a thinking person’s play, lots of allegories and interpretative ideas, some of it quite gripping but gruesome to watch.

Fair and Tender, written and directed by Jackass stalwart Laura Emerson, revolved around the part Death plays in our lives.

If I understood it correctly.

He’s pulling the strings on all of us puppets. But perhaps the best way to leave this performance is to not fully understand it, thereby sparking debate and discussion.

The character of Death was played superbly by Tom Ward Burton, who sat high on his rather tattered looking throne throughout, coming down to explain his role in life and demonstrating to the audience just how powerful he can be in the stories of jealous lovers, incestuous siblings and cruel sisters.

The show incorporated live action, with heart-wrenching displays of emotion from Kelsey Taylor, who orders her brother (played by James Gill) to kill her in the woods after he impregnates her, along with puppetry and original music written and performed by the fantastic theatre band.

Overall, this was an ambitious production covering dark themes, but with moments of great humour, albeit often of a black variety.