Touching The Void: Bristol Old Vic (2021) -
I was hugely surprised by how much I enjoyed this production. I had seen the 2003 film and found it very enjoyable, informative and even though the people involved could have been considered a little bit stupid for risking their lives so much I connected with them and wanted to know how their trip all progressed/came to an end. I didn't however feel that it would translate very well to a stage production and I had expected to turn it off after 15 minutes for being just another gimmicky artsy fartsy fringe type thing.
How wrong could I be and I'm so glad that I was.
Having seen the film I was slightly surprised by the opening of this interpretation, which depicted a wake in a pub for Joe Simpson (Josh Williams) who was essentially the main focus of the story I knew. I was worried that they had changed too much, but later relieved by how they explained it all.
I quickly came to see that all of this was done in an attempt to show why people risk the climb in the first place and in a way to try to make non climbers understand how it feels too. It really immersed me in to the play and the adrenaline of the sport.
I liked the use of the available stage space and the descriptive form of the story, that utilised the items to hand to explain it all, from tables and chairs to books and glasses. The wind howling moments were a tad exaggerated for my own tastes, although again the reason for that feature became more apparent later on. Honestly though the sets and actions that utilised pub tables to deliver a climbing experience and what had been an iconic Boney M moment in the actual story, here played on a jukebox, was all so cleverly done.
And the Parka wearing stagehands were a great choice.
It must have taken ages to replace the various elements rigorously attacked on stage each night and I could only assume that the floor had a specific covering that meant the Bristol Old Vic didn't have to worry about any permanent damage.
The actors must also have been incredibly fit for the enduring efforts they all put in throughout the show.
I did think that it would probably have been more enjoyable to watch at the theatre for a fully immersive experience and the freedom to watch specific bits that weren't always the focus of the camera but by the end of it I felt informed and slightly on edge as things got more and more tense. I almost felt the physical and emotional pain.
I would say that some of the TV effects detracted from those, already so clever, on the stage.
But I did like the inclusion of Joe's Sister Sarah (Fiona Hampton) as a directional narrative function. She hadn't been mentioned in the film version so I had been a tiny bit annoyed when she first appeared however the way she was used worked brilliantly.
I had been curious to see how it could be made in to a play and I have to applaud David Greig for having a mind that could take Joe Simpson's source material and make it work so well.
The second half dragged a teeny weeny bit which was possibly more about the pacing than the script itself, but just as my mind was starting to wander it pulled me back in.
I would have liked some sort of an epilogue. Perhaps a drink in the pub making a joke about Richard's Book, but otherwise I genuinely hadn't ever expected to see a stage version of a film, that I was interested in but never amazed by, done so well. Don't get me wrong the film was good too, but basically not a genre or the content that would usually peak my interests.
As I hinted at above there have been times where I've struggled to connect with a lead in a film for being just an idiot doing something reckless, something I certainly thought about Colin Firth's role of Donald Crowhurst in 'The Mercy' (2018) among other stories, but I was desperately keen for Joe and Simon (Angus Yellowlees) to succeed even if I did have a slight hope that Richard (Patrick McNamee) might have been eaten by wolves or something, which would have been an acceptable change to the story in my opinion.
It's weird that these people put their lives at risk essentially doing something a bit stupid and yet we as the viewer still watch with some sort of reverence for them.
This was so good though that I've already told others to watch it. It needs far more attention than I believe it has already had.
826.77/1000.
