Review Theatre: Any Which Way | Knives | crime

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The Review - THEATRE by DEBORAH STERESCU
Published: 20 November 2008

Knives are not the only way

REVIEW: ANY WHICH WAY
Only Connect Theatre

WITH knife crime in London happening on a daily basis, you’d think you had seen and heard enough about it.
But Any Which Way, by David Watson, gives us new insights into the problem. The promenade-style production by arts charity Only Connect mixes professional actors and ex-offenders in its cast. And it is precisely this that makes the play and its message all the more powerful.
The story is a familiar one to the streets of London, but it is seldom understood.
Stefan and Akin have known each other since their youth. Stefan, in an angry fit, stabs his friend Akin to death. Struggling to deal with his guilt, he goes on the run, confronted along the way by his cousin, his girlfriend and, finally, Akin’s ghost.
The play gives us a raw sense of what it is like to live in the inner-city estates of London.
Junior Miller delivers a frightening monologue about the need to carry a knife, waving his blade swiftly in front of the faces in the audience.
From the moment the play begins, you are engulfed in the action. The actors enter the scene with no warning – the audience is compelled to follow the actors’ steps in a chaotic promenade around an oblong room. The experience is unconventional for theatre, but the involvement of the audience proves extremely effective: we are forced to care about the characters.
Back wall projected images of city gangs and shuddery soundscapes make the audience anticipate what will happen next.
Only Connect aims to make an example of the ex-offenders in the play, who are real-life proof you can go “any which way” in life.
It’s just a shame the charity’s efforts cannot possibly reach everyone. And the ending of the play doesn’t let us forget this fact.
Until November 29
0845 370 7790

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