Spoonface Steinberg tomorrow

Thinking about the theatre and seeing Spoonface Steinberg by Lee Hall at the Audlem Scout & Guide Hall tomorrow? This review from Manchester might make up your mind:

Lee Hall is probably best-known these days as the writer of Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters, as well as the film version of War Horse. But his first notable success was a radio drama, Spoonface Steinberg, that has since become one of the most requested BBC repeats.

Famously, in fact, they actually had to repeat it within a week of its first broadcast back in January 1997! In 2000, Hall adapted the piece for the live stage and, five years later, Hugo Chandor, the Artistic Director of North West-based Freerange Theatre Company, toured a production to some acclaim.

Now it's been impressively restaged by Chandor and a new leading actress, Rebecca Fenwick including this date, which I was fortunate enough to be able to simply wander up the hill to one of my local pubs to see!

With full disclosure in mind, I should point out that The Swan is not quite my local as I actually live right next door to the other village pub in Dobcross, the equally-splendid Navigation, but that Michael and Tim, the new landlords of The Swan are determinedly turning their lovely pub into something of a must-visit venue for small-scale theatre productions and more community-minded events.

None of the foregoing, fairly transparent plugging has in any way influenced my appraisal of this superb production, however, which is as heartbreaking, uplifting and thought-provoking as you could possibly hope to find, let alone in the intimate theatres that tend to be Freerange's stock-in-trade.

Fenwick, an actress new to me despite the inevitable parts in Heartbeat, Emmerdale and Prime Suspect, gives a marvelously vivid and utterly in-the-moment performance as 'Spoonface', the seven-year old autistic girl dying of cancer.

We're bedside in a hospital room with her, as only her teddy-bear, her Solitaire set and the Rubik's Cube that will subsequently feature in something of a coup-de-theatre, distract her from musing for us on the short life and palpable pain and suffering that have led up to this moment.

Her autism and touching innocence, albeit with a tantalizing hint of mischief, give her a uniquely joyful perspective on life and death, reflected in an often-unexpectedly hilarious monologue principally revolving around her mum and dad, the cleaner, and her doctors but with a bit of religious questioning thrown in for good measure.

It's no mean feat to play a young child convincingly, let alone one with autism, but Fenwick pulls it off with aplomb, aided by unfussy but powerful direction from Chandor.

Admirably, Freerange is entirely self-funded and an excellent way to support them would be to seek out this fine production. It's at the Scout And Guide Hall, Audlem, Cheshire on June 22nd (events19@cloud.com); and The Old Clubhouse as part of the Buxton Fringe Festival July 12th/13th/18th/19th (0845-127 2190)

Reviewer: Kevin Bourke

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