“The play embraced culture and bravery and standing up for what you believe in”
“Run Rebel” is a stage adaptation of the novel by Manjeet Mann, an actor, author and playwright. The play was performed by Pilot Theatre who are a York based international touring theatre company who makes work targeted at young people. Run Rebel tells the story of Amber Rai, a young teenager who is really passionate about running but is dealing with her emotionally abusive, alcoholic father. The play explores her life and escaping her father to achieve her dreams of being a professional runner. Run Rebel was dynamic and thought-provoking and told a deep and meaningful story.
The script was really grounded and worked to explore poetry as a form of telling a story. The script was eloquently told through the actors drive and emotion. It was coupled with music and sound effects that deepened the story further. The Bollywood music captured the culture of the characters. The 6-strong cast multirole so incredibly seamlessly and build such specific and beautiful characters so well. Jessica Kaur led the show as the lead, Amber. She had impressive projection and diction skills as well as a brilliant ability to attain so many lines and stamina throughout the whole show. Heather Forster portrayed wonderful characterisation and was thoroughly enjoyable to watch as Amber’s best friend in the play.
The costume changes were super quick and really worked with the pace of the play. They were accurate to the characters ages and alongside the lighting design really emphasised the story being told. The use of lighting was engaging and really clever. It was really effective and was very exciting to watch. The acting from all was incredibly moving and emotional, it was beautiful to see what the company was presenting and telling. It was an important story being told and that certainly was achieved through the acting.
There were quite a few funny moments in the show which made the audience laugh. As the target audience is young people, the humour was created with children in mind and so it was comedic and balanced out the emotional parts really well. The skate ramp used for the play offered opportunity for levels and free movement across the stage. The script the script was created to break the fourth wall and this made the play immersive and engaging. The moments of silence were very effective and allowed the play to build suspense successfully going into the next scenes.
Overall, this play was strong and powerful. It embraced culture and bravery and standing up for what you believe in. The cast and creative team did a brilliant job on the show and I wish them all the best for the next leg of their run in Leeds, starting on the 22nd.