There is a light: BRIGHTLIGHT review.
Yesterday I went to see the opening performance in the Chrysalis festival, which celebrates Youth theater in its many forms and provides a platform for talented young people with something to say. And BRIGHTLIGHT definitely had something to say. Performed by contact, a young company from Manchester, the show focuses on the experience of teenage cancer patients as there is startlingly little specialist care for this age group. The production was very emotive, with stories told from a number of different perspectives- some of which were the actors own journeys with the disease. I found it very interesting the way each audience member would perceive it differently. An interview with an audience member revealed that the play had shocked him as he had no previous experience with cancer, where as I didn’t find it shocking, more just sad as do have previous experience with losing loved ones.
The method of projection was well used to give a backdrop for the stories, such as pictures of cast members in hospital, or short clips of moving objects. It added a visual aspect to the sometimes static telling of the stories. This was only one of the formats in which they were told however, others including game show skits, scenes told from multiple perspectives. I enjoyed the breaking of the fourth wall and the addresses to the audience as it broke up the heavier moments of the story.
The stories were all very moving, and breaking up the play into the stages of cancer, diagnosis, after the shock, death, survival, etc gave it the feel of a documentary so there was a balance of how involved you could become with their stories. I really enjoyed the performance, and felt as though i had gained a great insight into the everyday struggles of the young people afflicted and the unique problems that age group faces.
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