**** 4 STARS
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Stitches is by far and away the best university production I have seen to date. Hailing, in this case, from the University of Manchester and written by International Playscript Award Winner 2009, Claire Urwin, it is every ounce as well constructed, acted and produced as most of the big boy productions you may be privy to during your Festival experience.
Following the destruction of the planet by fire floods of debatable origin, the play details the minutiae of day to day life for those charged with remembering and reconstructing the past. Emotions and perpetually prescient themes such as equality, imagination and class struggle are all dealt with in engagingly erudite fashion.
An original take on the traditional post apocalyptic world of tomorrow scene, Stitches is clever in its characterisation and does well to be ambiguous about the causes of the catastrophe because in doing so it gives the setting a sense of mystery, almost a touch of the sinister when combined with the claustrophobic nature of the room in which it is acted out.
The confusion and blind hope reflects infinite facets of the eternal human condition and all of the characters are not just wonderfully drawn but impeccably acted.
The script is artful and unflinchingly human, although, one does question how the grand children of apocalypse survivors, who have never even seen an ash tray, would have such an adroit grasp of the language.
Some people clearly have the ability to visualise a scene, including all the otherwise imperceptible details and human dynamics associated, and transpose it perfectly onto the stage. Clare Urwin is one of these people and it is fascinating to see what she imagines.
Reviewed by: Magnus Huntly-Grant
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