★★★★★

Reviewer - Annie

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

No Limits contains scenes of adult nature/themes, strong language and haze or smoke.

Walking in to watch a Song Cycle as opposed to a show is such an exciting prospect. Although both offer Musical tunes, it is an entirely different experience. Whether you’ve researched a show before visiting, or go in with blind eyes - you still have some understanding of the premise of the show and a vague idea of what journey the story will take you on.

However, with a Song Cycle, is it almost impossible to know what you are walking into - aside from looking at the cast and production team, you cannot know the story as there quite literally isn’t one.

Sam Thomas’ debut Song Cycle ‘No Limits’ premiered at the Turbine Theatre this week, following huge anticipation. The show was originally picked up in 2019, and to run in The Other Palace in March 2020 - however, I don’t need to explain to anyone why that didn’t go ahead…. The following year, ‘No Limits’ was set to debut at MT Fest, but again the big C had other plans. Not letting this falter confidence, the show was picked up by Sam Caldwell from ‘Paper House Productions’ and Dean Johnson (director) for its run at the ever-beautiful Turbine Theatre.

There aren’t many shows that gain the opportunity to have a run then it sadly it never happens due to a multitude of factors. But to me, the fact ‘No Limits’ has continued to have such credited people back it, must clearly have been a testament to its potential. I arrived with such hopes for a successful night, and it is more than fair to say last night completely blew me away.

The premise of the show is five young adults confessing their fears of the world, and their dreams - each coming to realise it is only themselves who are holding them back. The songs are each as strong as the last - allowing every character to build their own story, whilst each still connecting to the last. As with the absence of a storyline, the most genius part is that each song can be taken as an entirely stand-alone story/performance.

Sam Thomas is an insane talent and his writing is just genius. It is honest, relatable and dynamic. I was so impressed with how easy it was to connect and relate to each character in such a short space of time. This is such a credit to Sam’s writing ability - it isn’t easy to fit so much emotion, development and colour into a short show - but this is managed with such effortlessness for every single character.

I genuinely believe this is the perfect show for the 21st century. Everyone will be able to relate to at least one character’s story, whether they’ve found themselves in that situation personally or knows a friend who has/ It was so comforting to watch and realise no one is alone in their worries about becoming an adult in our modern world. The songs deal with real, honest topics, with such understanding and resolution. Also, it must be applauded Thomas’ ability to write female characters so well. There was so much detail and honesty within their songs, I have never felt so understood when watching a performance.

The cast is impeccable - offering insane vocals and pure magic on the stage. Each of their voices offered so much colour and power it elevated the songs to the next level. Natalie May Paris performs the title track in the show and all I have to say is that it takes a true talent to take an already incredible song and make it a masterpiece. Natalie did just that.

What was so wonderful with the cast and the songs is that although a performer had been assigned to each role, there really is such fluidity with the songs and performances that anyone really could play any of the roles - again making it just that bit more relatable. Every single gender, identity and opinion was celebrated on that stage and the cast are the biggest credit to themselves and the show.

Mary Moore performed with such comedic ease and light, whilst Hannah Lowther brought true energy and power to her songs. Both Owen Clayton and Michael Mather performed with such ease and their rendition of ‘The Ballad of the One-Night Stand’ was just beautiful in terms of both vocals and performance.
Following the show, I had the pleasure of chatting with Rhys Wilkinson - the show’s movement director. This was Rhys’ debut in directing the movement in a show, although it is no secret he is an insanely talented choreographer and dancer he said it was a nerve-wracking experience coming to a show with no story to follow; how do you get the characters to read on stage? Having listened to the songs, Rhys explained he wanted to create raw, relatable characters and penned the term “naturally unnatural” movement. How would we as people naturally react in these situations when totally alone in a room? We all can admit we have weird uncomfortable moments when alone, that we wouldn’t do in public, so it felt wrong to Rhys to over choreograph the show so it felt ‘staged’ and distracted from the actual feelings and what we’d do ourselves. It is more than fair to say that this was done with tremendous success. Each character felt truly honest and I was totally infatuated with each individual story.

My friend and I both agreed it felt so refreshing to come to a show that was so beautifully developed yet felt real, relatable and raw. Rhys Wilkinson said “If we can create theatre that allows the audiences to see a fraction of themselves on stage, then we’re doing our job right’, and that is something I really hope we get to see so much more in both the future of theatre and especially that of ‘No Limits’.

I truly had my already high expectations exceeded last night and I can’t wait to see what is next for this show. Congratulations to Sam Thomas and Paper House - this is just the beginning…

No Limits is performing at The Turbine Theatre until 26 Feburary 2023. Ticket information is available on The Turbine Theatre website.