Review: The Long Way Home, Art & Soul Magazine, Monday 8th March 2010

Following a successful double bill of plays which ran at various locations around Peterborough last year, Eastern Angles are back in the city with their new production, The Long Way Home. Set in an unidentified but decidedly Grecian land, the play follows the character of Old Mother, an elderly lady who, following the death of her husband, leaves her village in order to return to the seaside town of her birth. En route she discovers a ‘dog-boy', a young boy living like a wild dog in the forest. Not feeling able to abandon him, she takes him with her on her journey, and as they travel, teaches him to talk, and about the world around them. Their path takes them through mountains, forest and farmland plains, and along the way they meet with various characters, all of whom are strange to Andreas the dog-boy, and all of whom try to tempt him away from his path alongside Old Mother, and into their worlds.

The Key Theatre Studio lends itself perfectly to this production, its smaller scale thrusting the audience in amongst the action and creating an intimate atmosphere which heightens every tension and multiplies every emotion. As we've come to expect with Eastern Angles the standard of acting is superb, but it's the additional use of puppetry and storytellers, and the overall direction of the play, which makes The Long Way Home truly stand out. Whilst the actors playing Old Mother and Andreas remain constant, all the other characters in the story are played by James Bolt and Jumaan Short, who also act as the storytellers, flipping between roles with a momentary change of costume, or sometimes just an alteration of posture.

The puppetry also blends seamlessly into the action, the frightening creation of the ghost of Old Mother's husband using nothing but an upturned jug and a hessian rag being a particular triumph. Nor has director Naomi Jones wasted a moment of any scene, with even changes of scenery being used to dramatic effect; as Andreas and Old Mother begin to descend the mountains looking down over the town of their destination, the boxes representing the houses are swished past their eyes as they're moved from the stage, signifying their entrance into the town.

With a single stage set, a small cast and the use of puppetry and song, Eastern Angles have pushed the boundaries of what can drama can achieve, and woven it into a gripping and heartwarming story that will enthral and delight audiences in equal measure. With a long list of dates still to run throughout the region, The Long Way Home will deservedly raise the company's reputation once again.

Paddy Burke

Art & Soul Magazine