Writer: Mark Wheeller
Director: Elliot Montgomery
In January 2014 16-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs went to an illicit all-night rave, overdosed on ecstasy and died. Daniel was intelligent, funny, given to moments of wild clowning, but essentially serious, a member of Amnesty International and devoted to other charitable work. A hugely popular figure, he was not the sort of boy you expect this to happen to.
So, when the tragedy happened, his Drama teacher contacted playwright Mark Wheeller with the suggestion of using Dan as the subject for a play. This was first performed in 2016 and since then has chalked up any number of performances in schools and theatres. Working with the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation gives the play a rare, raw stamp of authenticity.
Elliot Montgomery’s production for Octopus Dream Theatre is powerful, poignant and intensely moving, from the boisterous roistering of the early stages to a quiet stillness that overwhelms the audience. The play is topped and tailed by filmed interviews with Dan’s mother and father and his girlfriend Jenna, communicating the love he inspired. Then the first half consists of wild dancing separating out the verbatim interviews with Mark Wheeller. David Chafer (Mark) is perfectly hesitant as he explores Dan’s life from Year 7 onwards with his friends.
Cobie Scott-Ward talks as his one-time girlfriend, then his best friend, who was unsure about his new mates in the Sixth Form. Sean Radford gives an outsider’s view of the events of that night as Jack who turned down drugs and – to his eternal shame – refused to ride in the ambulance. Most telling of all Amy Zoldan as Alice wrestles with her conscience as the person who everyone blames for Dan’s death. The fourth member of the excellent young ensemble, Alex Colley, tends to take the part of Dan, less prominent as Mark interviews the survivors.
Then Mark shuts up his recorder and leaves and we move into the quiet, still and unbearably moving second half. Scott-Ward and Colley become the parents, Zoldan Jenna and Radford Jacob, the elder brother, as we explore the heartbreak of the next few days – and beyond. The verbatim nature of the whole show gives a naturally convincing edge to all the narration and Wheeller balances the different voices perfectly. By the end the sight of Dan on video, engaging in horseplay or generally just enjoying life, makes one realise the importance of the message: this was all so unnecessary. The Dan his parents knew was the real Dan, but not the complete Dan, and a wretched mistake ended his life.
Neither play text nor production overplays the drama. It’s all there in the controlled, understated performances and the poignancy of the filmed interviews.
Reviewed on 20th May 2023. Touring nationwide.
The Reviews Hub Score
Poignant and powerful
