A Night Out with Ash

The Dark Carnival - A Review

A group of us went to see The Dark Carnival and this is our collective review:

Dark but also light and funny.  The seriousness of the material was handled lyrically and musically so that the treatment felt a bit like twisted humour.  The musical performances were really strong and unusual; though perhaps overshadowed the strength of the actors in places – was there a disconnect between these two art-forms? 

We experienced a lot of different emotions but wondered if it were really ‘dark’ enough?

The staging was great – there was a lot going on with plenty to keep you eye busy for one-hour, 40 minutes without an interval.

We liked the fact that it was an integrated cast but felt at a loss as to what the D/deaf performer was saying. We liked that in the final song that other performers signed and we could work out what words were being said. And we worried that the lighting might not be completely autism-friendly (was there a ‘relaxed’ performance?). 

The preparatory workshop with Nicky Caultman from Vanishing Point theatre company really helped us to understand how doggerel verse was used – and why. It made that element more interesting and accessible and made the story line a bit clearer.  It was hard to understand at first and we better understood how the actors could play with the text, but good to know that even they struggled with it in rehearsal!

Words by Articulate’s Culture Club.