Moonfleece Review by Phillip Horton

University Theatre, Bath Spa University

13th - 15th November, 7.30pm; matinee 15th at 2pm. Post show discussion with the writer on 14th Nov.

Controversial playwright Philip Ridley’s tale of the far right rising to legitimacy was banned by Dudley Council when on a national tour in 2010. Concerned with the rise of a fashionable fascist party, it’s set in a derelict high-rise flat now used as a squat by Link (an eyecatching performance by Harvey Bassett) and Zac.

Curtis, a young right winger, used to live there and he turns up with a pair of comrades, taking over the flat for a meeting. However, his former girlfriend, Sarah, arrives with a young gay journalist and Nina, a librarian in a wheelchair who fancies herself as a spiritualist. Other members of Curtis’s family turn up later, en route to a rally, so it’s a busy flat.

The spectre at this argumentative ensemble is Curtis’s dead brother, Jason. Family memories, death, politics and relationships are stirred into this youthful mix, climaxing after a failed seance.

Only written ten years ago, it hasn’t dated an inch; this is an intense piece that grips to the end. It’s a play about youth, growing and learning, performed to perfection by Bath Spa University’s OnSet productions, it received deservedly enthusiastic acclaim from the packed house.

By Phillip Horton