★★★★★
Taking the form of a live choose-your-own-story adventure, Cerys Bradley assumes the role of games master, consulting the audience on each stage of the protagonist’s journey; from how many times they should snooze their alarm to whether or not a magic door to a distant mountain realm should be entered. The incredible care that has gone into creating the show is evident. Every element has been carefully considered and designed, with a number of artfully painted props being used throughout, sound effects adding another dimension, and Bradley’s ring binder of notes speaking to the depth of the different available pathways. Once the story begins, what entails is hilarious, absurd, and utterly joyful. Bradley has the enviable ability to make a room of strangers feel like a group of friends hanging out and having a laugh. Even whilst narrating the story, they are effortlessly funny, and comes across as the sort of person you wish you were friends with.
The audience interaction that sits at the heart of the show is perfectly managed, giving individuals the chance to fundamentally shape the journey undergone, as well as appealing to a group consensus for certain decisions. The game design allows for the ideal balance between pre-established narrative paths, lending a sense of structure and progression, and the absurd chaos of elements freely imagined by the audience. The interplay of these two aspects created that hilarious tension of an improvisor straining against audience-directed limitations. For example, in the iteration I saw, the protagonist was faced with an impasse and it was proposed that the character break from Bradley’s pre-established options. “Yes, yes, that can happen”, they repeated assuring us whilst frantically flicking around the pages of notes to find a pathway that accommodated this narrative diversion. It is moments like these that make the show so brilliant: it is less about the story being created itself, but rather the chaotic joyfulness of that communal act of creation.
