North West Theatre

Make Believe

Luke Walker & Sally Lawton
Astral Twins
26 Jul 10 to 31 Jul 10
New Century House
Part of: 24:7 Theatre Festival

If you let it your mind can take you anywhere. But in a world where fantasy and fact collide is it time to stop pretending and join the 'real' world? After all, it's only make-believe... isn't it? A comedy that leaves a lot to the imagination.

Nothing listed

Having set up the basic situation... the script doesn’t find too many places to surprise the audience until the final revelations. The larking about and childish play-acting eventually develop into something close to poignant sense, but it is often not exciting to sit through until it gets there.
What's On Stage (Rating: 2/5)
...not wholly successful. It does not work as a character study because Ballerina is a rather irritating person... The story is pedestrian... high quality of the dialogue and performances although even these have some limitations... Director Alyx Tole delivers a show in which no opportunity for laughter is missed... [Luke Walker] gives the Jockey a wistful air of resignation... [Sally] Lawton has a more difficult task. Ballerina is essentially an over-grown child and comes across as rather pathetic... does not completely satisfy but is still very funny...
The Public Reviews (Rating: 3/5)
There are some serious elements to this play, but they really play second fiddle to the comic bickering between the two characters... tends towards the silly rather than anything cerebral... much of it comes across as a little infantile rather than funny... co-writers Sally Lawton, who does a decent job of creating a childish 29-year-old, and Luke Walker, who has superb comic delivery which is often superior to the lines he is delivering... the comedy isn't funny enough and the serious elements are just not developed enough for it all to come together as a coherent piece.
British Theatre Guide
...takes the word “bizarre” to a whole new level... while there is a decent play struggling to get out here, large chunks of the dialogue are difficult to digest. You can’t fault Walker and Lawton for their originality but the whole experience feels like very hard work... [Luke] Walker and [Sally] Lawton put their heart and soul into their performances...
Sale and Altrincham Messenger (Rating: 2/5)
You can see what writer-actors Sally Lawton and Luke Walker are getting at... The pair deserve credit for putting a lot of energy and physicality into their performance, but the script is just not comic enough and two grown-ups behaving like children struck me as just silly...
City Life (Rating: 2/5)