REVIEW: INFLUENCE at Collective Theatre 19 Oct-2 Dec 2023

“an ambitious, fun piece of theatre” ★★★★

This is an amiable show that is probably not quite as inscrutably hard to figure out as it thinks. This play, the inaugural production in the new Collective Theatre, is written, unusually for theatre, by a writers’ room. The result is a crowd-pleasing play that goes down easily. It takes the form of a magic show led by a character named only “The Magician,” played with flair by Kit Young. With a fair amount of audience participation along the way, this character hints at a dark event in the past while doing tricks of sleight of hand.

As the title suggests, the play is interested in suggestibility: how we come to do things and the hidden reasons why. This theme is, in the opening of the play, tied into the idea of internet influencers and social media, grounding the play in the present moment and its concerns. The play is very carefully put together – as The Magician says at one point, even mistakes are planned – and the audience participation is carefully managed. (Though, as a shy theatregoer who dreads the thought of being called on to the stage, clear instructions on how to opt out would have been helpful).

Influence combines the frisson of danger of a magic show with a play’s careful plotting. Sometimes seeing through a trick is just as interesting as being hoodwinked by it; and I enjoyed even the moments when I realized exactly what was going on. This is an ambitious, fun piece of theatre for Collective Theatre – a very auspicious start!

INFLUENCE at Collective Theatre 19 Oct-2 Dec

 2023

Cast: Kit Young as The Magician

Written by: Georgia Crowther, Chris York, and Maheni Arthur

Book tickets: https://collectivetheatre.co.uk/production/influence/

Reviewed by Clio Doyle