Blackout is an honest, brutal and often hilarious insight into alcoholism and recovery, scripted entirely from interviews with recovering alcoholics, including the writer.
Every day people are drawing from their experiences, re-evaluating what is important and realising how lucky they are. New Room Theatre have a reputation for tackling strong, socially aware topics and this message is not one they are going to let you forget.
It makes for a lively, if sobering, evening.
Blackout is stunning in its simplicity – it does not require any flashy, fancy stage production, just simply five actors on stage with a microphone- the story is more than enough.
There is clearly a value in Blackout, since it is bracingly honest, and sporadically funny. Yet this value is less within a theatrical context and more in the educational, with the facts of the matter being offered in a blunt manner.
Jeary and the four other member of the cast tell these tales straight. No self-pity, no excuses. Just spaghetti hoops pouring from the nose, knickers round the ankles, nights in police cells, heavy sessions followed by skin-crawling mornings.
The experiences are real and it is testament to the performers that they need no more than a microphone to get the tales across.
On Tour, from Wednesday April 20, 2016, until Saturday May 21, 2016.
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