Life Support

PLAY REVIEW: LIFE SUPPORT at York Theatre Royal



Catapulting Cocoon’s indie musical, Life Support, appeared previously at York Theatre Royal’s October Takeover week, a festival of shows put on by a management team made up entirely of under twenty-six year olds. Chosen from twenty-five applicants to make their professional debut, the March leg of Takeover saw their return with a more developed performance, neatly reflecting the youthful, music-led inclinations of this year’s festival programme.

Unfortunately post-show comparisons to this previous performance were unfavourable. Some key elements of Catapulting Cocoon’s performance seem to have withered, with a much weaker fade-out ending, excessive length and unnecessary dialogue. The quality of the musical element, vital to the workings of the play, has also suffered. Some of the songs seem irrelevant, mere padding in the worse cases, while the replacement actors lack the singing talent of the original cast.

It is sad that such a vibrant play has suffered so much in its development, but there is still much to enjoy in Life Support. The acting was particularly strong in the fantastically convincing portrayal of Lucy, the crazy special educational needs co-ordinator, with her thick-rimmed glasses and invitations to borrow a book from the library (“school code” for a drink at the local). I also found appeal in the play’s clever touches, like the use of projection displaying live facebook status updates. The story line, too, is charming; the concept of “vigilante educational reformists” giving their valuable artistic talent and time to work with special needs kids for steady rent money. Life Support has a lot to offer, a moving song-by-song narration of what it is to realise you are growing up. Although the dialogue is clunky and overlong we feel the frustration of Alfie and Damien in their struggle to relate to the educational system and its implications for special needs children.

Life Support is the kind show you really want to like, and one that you can through a whole string of adjectives after: irreverent, human, youthful, witty, and moving, just to list a few. I believe this show has a lot of potential, but also desperately needs a lot of polishing. With good direction and some brutal editing, a reduced length, high quality music-led performance would do well.

Reviewed for "A Younger Theatre", http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/review-life-support-takeover-festival-catapulting-cocoon/