Rockets and Blue Lights - REX Manchester/ Dorfman NT

I saw this last week and I was really impressed. It was absorbing, with some excellent performances. Given the subject matter, some parts were quite harrowing, but there was also lightness and humour, and the music was very good too.

There were a lot of characters and different strands to the narrative and I loved its scale and ambition. I assume the structure was making the point about history/politics/life being messy and overlapping, and we can’t get away from the ramifications of what our ancestors did. Occasionally I felt it was trying to say too much, so that some characters didn’t quite find their voices, or I wanted more of their stories.

I don’t want to make it sound worthy and hard work, because it really wasn’t. I came out of the theatre feeling like I’d had a good evening, watching an interesting, well-acted, well-written play with characters I cared about. I think it’s also a play that will stick with me for a long time and make me think about how I see the world.

The queuing and entry were more straightforward than for After Life, but there were some issues with enforcing mask wearing at the performance I went to, with a few people getting annoyed/stressed/upset, and a poor usher trying hard to cope with all the complaints.

It’s easily the best thing I’ve seen at the NT since it reopened.

I saw this last night and enjoyed it, a good part due to the performances and the extra music. I thought Karl Collins and Rochelle Rose in particular were very good. I did think it was a little all over the place and as someone who isn't British and so didn't have any mention of Britain's involvement in slavery or Turner etc in my education ... it felt like perhaps a little more explanations or even a little directed reading beforehand would have been beneficial - of course that won't apply to everyone!


I also think it's the best thing the NT have done since they re-opened but I wasn't at all taken with Under Milk Wood or Paradise so that one is a low bar! We are seeing East is East & The Normal Heart next week so hopefully they'll both be great

Theatre was reasonably full, a few empty seats dotted around and mask wearing wasn't bad.