Writer and Performer: Ben Harrison
Musician, Performer & Composer: David Paul Jones
A show about memory, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me allows writer Ben Harrison more familiarly known as the co-artistic director of theatre company Grid Iron, to exorcise some of the demons of his 80s teenage years spent in Norfolk. Different from his peers, the self-proclaimed posh boy in a floral shirt was as far away from his hero Morrissey’s Manchester and those working class laments as it was possible to be. Harrison found solace in the melancholy tunes and longing lyrics of not only The Smiths, but Tears For Fears, Bronski Beat and The Cure to name a few.
Story by story, Harrison shares his formative years. He is a somewhat nervous actor, there are more than a few stumbles over lines and the stories never quite make a connection, though his own memories and we have to allow him to express that, they are rather anodyne and generic: falling in love with an older woman to tragic consequences, dabblings with anarchy, painting your bedroom radical red and black. On the surface you would imagine there would be a lot to relate to for the audience of a certain age, but it just doesn’t make the emotional connection it should to make it a winner.
Musician and composer David Paul Jones, as well as sharing a small segment of his own personal memories (which have more resonance than Harrison’s) provides re-imagined versions of these familiar songs, lending a hopefulness to some and a plangency to others. The music is the most successful part of the production, especially the hairs on the back of the neck renditions of Smalltown Boy and Head Over Heels.
The premise had so much promise, the music is glorious but the central storytelling is lacking.
Runs until 21 September 2024 | Image: Pete Dibdin
The Reviews Hub Score
Fails to make an emotional connection
