A magic and theatre lovers’ treat, Influence will keep you on your toes looking for slip ups that don’t come – it’s real magic on stage from Kit Young.
Influence by the Stockroom Productions and playing at the brand new Collective theatre until 2nd December sees Kit Young (well known for his role in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone) enter the stage as the Magician.
The theatre itself deserves a mention – industrial brick and a charming stage decorated perfectly in a circus type theme. Heavy red curtains are draped around the side and slightly creepy but apt props litter the back of the space. It’s an intimate space with the audience tiered in such a way that we all feel like we’re peering down onto the stage, close to the action yet removed enough to feel safe to make judgements.
We’re warned not to spoil the plot and so I won’t divulge the storyline but it was captivating. Exploring the power of influence from mainly two perspectives – from magicians’ ability to manipulate the mind into seeing or believing certain things to modern day social media influencers who through sleight of hand and selective curation of their daily lives cajole audiences into accepting the versions of events they present.
Young’s confidence with the magic he performs on stage was impressive, presumably he’s learnt the majority of them for this production and he executes them all with ease. Having seen a few magicians perform we were actually treated to a plethora of acts in Influence – enough for it to earn a name as a magician’s show if it wanted – but the undercurrent of plot running through it helps it remain firmly in the theatrical sector of art.
Young commands the stage with a natural charisma that led to a comfortable audience camaraderie and engagement with both him but also fellow audience members. He struck up an easy back and forth with any volunteers and most cast members though it must be noted the energy unfortunately noticeably dropped with a later cast member towards the end of the production which was very disappointing after an engaging, well paced and natural delivery for the majority of the two hours.
Overall Influence delivers an engaging slick production where we found ourselves captivated until the final few scenes. The climax, although fast paced and exciting, needs further work for it to match the rest of the show which otherwise would sit amongst the best I’ve seen this year.