Natalie Anglesey
It’s rare to discover a piece of innovative theatre, performed by a relatively young company, which restores your faith in theatre pertinent to contemporary times.
Performed only a few minutes away from Moss Side, this new production, written and directed by Keith Saha, could be about the problems of any inner city.
However, the Moss Side connection is relevant because 20-year-old Tachia Newall, who plays Jamal, a knife-wielding gangland leader, is from the area and knows the background of the characters. A friend of 15-year-old Jesse James, who was shot dead while cycling through a local park four years ago, this kind of violent crime has been used as the inspiration for this dramatic piece of theatre.
Flashes of humour are supplied by Everal A Walsh as Dennis, who becomes the vigilante superhero Fly Man.
Told mainly through a mixture of narrative, puppetry and some popular audience involvement, there’s evocative cello music from Hannah Marshall, while Courtney Hayles hauntingly dances the title role of the Ghost Boy. But the most unusual element is the beat-boxing of Hobbit, an established figure in the UK hip hop scene, who supplies terrific mouth music and sound effects to spontaneous applause.
The combination of all these elements makes a riveting slice of inner city life and, while this production may be aimed at an age range of 13 plus, it also has much to say to the adults in the audience.
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Ghost Boy
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Timothy Ramsden
Street cred takes to the stage.
Anyone - anyone - who says theatre is for aging, middle-class cultural show-offs should see this, from Liverpool’s 20 Stories High theatre company. At Contact, a largely young (teenage, twenties), ethnically diverse crowd lapped up Ghost Boy, springing back with cheers and moments of participation. -
The Stage
Natalie Anglesey
It’s rare to discover a piece of innovative theatre, performed by a relatively young company, which restores your faith in theatre pertinent to contemporary times.
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The Mancunion
Imogen Walker
Set on Lemonade Estate, “a place that people have forgotten, a place where the kids are running wild,” director Keith Saha’s Ghost Boy follows Jamal, an outwardly confident gang leader plagued by a dark secret. He meets taxi driver Dennis, a community elder fed up of the ‘little demons’ running round the estate, but little do they realise that they have more of a connection than either of them could have ever imagined.