Boudicca’s story is reinvented as a punk fable in this history lesson/political speculation. When Calway speaks about Boudicca’s tale itself, he’s impassioned, ruthless and funny, close to a poetic ‘Horrible History’ book. The direction is energetic – particularly the clownish interactions with the ‘Masks’. It fails when he gets into politics. Boudicca, for all her authority-bashing, wasn’t a punk: she was a freedom fighter, not a subculture. Basing a show around the loose link between rebellion then and ‘rebellion’ now was a bad idea, and it shows when the material runs flat halfway through. Jokes about politician expenses don’t translate well, and instead of developing his arguments, Calway exaggerates points he’s already made.

theSpaces at Surgeons Hall, 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26 Aug, 8.10pm (8.55pm), £7.00, fpp285.
tw rating 3/5
[klc]