The Legend of Ned Ludd, Liverpool Everyman Review
The Legend of Ned Ludd, Menyee Lai, Reuben Johnson and Shaun Mason - photo © Marc BrennerWritten by Beth for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
The Legend Of Ned Ludd takes individual scenes all based around the increase in the use of machinery within a capitalist society, throws them into a randomiser machine and performs a selection. 256 possible shows and each audience sees 1 chosen at random: this show is cleverly orchestrated to leave the audience feeling they are missing out and desperately wanting to see the other versions of the play.
The versatility of actors Reuben Johnson, Menyee Lai and Shaun Mason shone throughout as they became characters from Paris, Nigeria, China, and in the one ever-present scene, Nottingham. This was my favourite of the locations and characters, the character development made possible due to it reoccurring meant the inevitable ending, although feeling slightly slap-dash, tugged on my heart. Set and Costume design by Hazel Low was ingenious. Set up mirroring a factory floor, accompanied with bright, garish light and projected lights rather than spikes on stage, it was easy to forget we were sat in a theatre. But this effect was short lived when periodically, just as we were becoming fully invested in that storyline, the actors broke character, mechanically returned their props and costumes, and waited for the machine to choose their next scene.
Praise has to be given to stage management for running the production so smoothly with so many possible iterations and locations; the pushing of boxes through on the conveyance line with everything needed for that scene was certainly a brilliant addition that I adored. I enjoyed the concept, but for me, the actual show wasn’t as exciting. Each scene was too disjunct to really sink my teeth into it, however, I wonder if perhaps that's not the ultimate message of the show: In a world where even creative decisions are made by machines, we lose the small connections and threads that a writer uses to bind a story together and make for creative genius. And there's no denying that's a pretty complex and difficult point to make in a play.
At Liverpool Everyman until 11 May 2024.
☆ ☆ ☆
