“The action, though well performed, never fully engaged the audience” Max Mulvany ★★★★★

Citizenship ★★★★★

Keble College, Friday 28th November 2009, 7:45pm

Review by Max Mulvany

A long production that to its credit retained the audience’s attention span throughout. It retained it however at a consistently average level, so that despite various life-changing issues the characters had a look in their eyes of defeatism from start to finish. The play deals with the sexual identity of its protagonist Tom, a tracksuit-wearing weed-smoking ordinary guy. He was worthy of praise for setting up action around the stage in almost every scene, but considering the length of Mark Ravenhill’s original production his character still felt incomplete in this edit. Like looking through a proscenium arch-shaped window into a council estate, the action, though well performed, never fully engaged the audience.  Dialogue was slick and the supporting cast turned in some occasionally brilliant performances, but the director’s guiding vision for this piece seemed unclear. It meandered its way to an uncertain conclusion only touching on the raw nerves its controversial issues expose, but was overall a satisfying and often very funny cuppers entry.