ED2016 5/5 Reviews ED2016 Theatre Reviews

Mark Thomas: The Red Shed (Lakin McCarthy in association with West Yorkshire Playhouse)

By Bruce Blacklaw | Published on Tuesday 9 August 2016

The Red Shed is a Labour club in Wakefield. A young student activist called Mark Thomas did his first live stuff there, at the epicentre of the miners’ strike that shaped his political consciousness. Three decades later he presents this show, partly reminiscence, but also a reflection on what we remember, and how, in these ephemeral times. Having told stories from those days so often, he wonders what impact narrative embellishment has had on his own memories, and embarks on a quest to find others who were there to separate fact from romantic fiction. Thomas and friends regarded rehearsal as a bourgeois affectation. Not so now – this is slick, crafted, compelling, poignant and bloody funny, capped off with a singalong and a deserved ovation.

Traverse Theatre, until 28 Aug.
tw rating 5/5 | [Bruce Blacklaw]