Crongton Knights opened last night to a lively audience of all ages at Theatre Royal Brighton.
Crongton Knights is based on Alex Wheatle’s young adult quest novel and adapted for theatre by Emteaz Hussain and features six young friends on a mission.
One of them has been robbed of her mobile by an ex-boyfriend and they are off to a neighbouring housing estate to recover it.
The cast are extremely athletic as they race up and down the atmospheric staircases and the audience is treated to solo songs and lively contemporary music.
In the first part they find the missing mobile and then after the interval worrying as to how they will get home.
The local taxis are reluctant to make the trip without prepayment, and the High Street is kicking off with confrontation with the Police.
Rival gangs soon appear and it starts to get menacing…
Excellent performances from Aimee Powell and Zak Douglas get the show off to a good start but it is difficult to understand what is going on in patches.
Venetia must retrieve her mobile because of the intimate nature of the photos it contains but she is emphatic; parents, teachers cannot be told and least of all the Police.
The play has these external forces circulating around in the background.
The Police have arrested one of the gang’s elder brother so the district has kicked off with an impromptu riot with looting taking place and taxis being diverted.
The question of why the youngsters don’t report crime to the Police is brushed under as soon as it surfaces.
Parents make an occasional appearance but they are too busy working and there are several poignant scenes where characters admit their mother is dead or father has gone.
But it is not all tears, the cast suddenly perk up when they discover a rave and have to join in the dancing.
