CAPTAIN AMAZING at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★★

“a timeless and emotive piece of theatre, perfectly silly and sensitive”

This is a 10 year anniversary revival of a beautiful piece that has lost none of its composure. Captain Amazing is a tour de force of storytelling, with Mark Weinman nimbly navigating over 10 different characters across the piece. His range is extraordinary, and the show would be worth seeing just for this performance.

Each character is remarkably well executed with Weinman using his full physicality, and the bright red cape he dons throughout, to embody everyone from a downtrodden DIY sales assistant (also called Mark), to his little girl Emily, to an estate agent for superheroes. This means that though there are plenty of laugh out loud physical comedy skits, the emotional weight of the final third lands exactly where it needs to.

The plot follows a slightly hapless man through a relationship, accidental parenthood, and the early years of developing a relationship with his daughter. Interspersed between this story are vignettes featuring Captain Amazing, a superhero who can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes. These are initially the source of much of the comedy in the piece; the tumble drier ruining a superhero costume was a highlight. But the fooling around also gives way to some bigger questions, even from the dastardly Evil Man who asks how on earth he is meant to be good if everyone expects him to be evil.

Alistair McDowall’s accomplished script then leads the audience through the worst loss imaginable. This is sensitively and simply done, focussing on Mark and Emily’s connection throughout a huge challenge.

Mark’s navigation through grief is then contrasted with superhero scenes of Captain Amazing struggling to find time to talk with other superhero mates. Both Mark and Captain Amazing start to unravel in a spiral of pain through the sense of isolation and disconnection. However, the piece ends with a chink of hope, with the audience left on an uplifting note without being mawkish.

Designer Georgia de Grey has done an incredible job with the deceptively simple set. A backdrop provides the exaggerated perspective of a room, and is covered in what looks like plain white papier mache. It becomes a canvass for childish comic book illustrations which punctuate Weinman’s performance, leaving an indelible record of his memory on stage. Lighting (carefully used by Will Monks) then is dialled up to increase and decrease the contrast during the superhero scenes, but never entirely fades away, especially as the lines get blurred between fantasy and reality in the denouement.

With only one man and one red chair on stage, Director Clive Judd creates hugely engaging worlds in both reality and the fantasy realm, which for the fantastical subject matter are also instantly recognisable. For a piece that ultimately navigates bereavement, Captain Amazing also revels in joy and escapism. I can see why it already has a ten year history. This is a timeless and emotive piece of theatre, perfectly silly and sensitive.

CAPTAIN AMAZING

★★★★★

Southwark Playhouse Borough

CAPTAIN AMAZING at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★★

“a timeless and emotive piece of theatre, perfectly silly and sensitive”