REVIEW: LOOKING FOR GIANTS @ KING'S HEAD THEATRE

🎭 Looking for Giants

📍 King's Head Theatre, 115 Upper Street, London, N1 1QN 

🗓 Saturday 18th January 2025

⭐️⭐️

AN INTERESTING IDEA THAT FALLS FLAT

This weekend I was invited to the King's Head Theatre in its new location to watch LOOKING FOR GIANTS. Unfortunately for me this play missed the mark and I struggled to find the point or central narrative of the piece.

It has to be said right away that this is nothing to do with the performer. Abby McCann acted the piece very well, expertly conveying the characters emotions. The problem for me lay with the writing and it pains me to say it but I was actually quite bored watching the play.

This one-woman show follows a central narrator and is split into three parts, with each decsribing and detailing different relationships she is in. The first with a university tutor, the second with someone she meets on a dating app but never meets face to face, and the third with a school crush.

Sadly the writing lacked any clarity for me and my mind kept wandering throughout. I was so disengaged with the piece that it took me a minute to realise we'd moved on to the third part and I was momentarily confused as I tried to refocus my mind on the story.

Part of the problem for me was that the character was not actually that likeable. She cames across as desperate and obsessive which immediately turned me off to her. I didn't understand how she seemed to be telling her story, but kept referring to herself as 'she' in the storytelling. Was this to distance herself from her past? I'm not sure.

I'm also not sure what the point of the play was. For some reason I was disengaged with the piece from the beginning, which is not like me at all. I really struggled to focus. Maybe I was tired or maybe it was just that the writing was lacking that hook.

As someone who spends a lot of time watching theatre I always say that no matter what genre the production is, the central story is the most important part, and for me this is where this show falls down.

There were some artistic choices I liked, such as the use of the microphone whenever our narrater was speaking the words of the male characters, but overall I was disappointed with the show.

I think that there is hope for this show and maybe with a rewrite, especially at the beginning, and knocking 10 minutes off the run time this could be a more cohesive piece of theatre.

It genuinely hurts my heart to give star ratings lower than three as my intent is always to support theatre, but I promised myself from the start that I would always be honest about my feelings and regretably my own integrity wouldn't allow me to award this show a rating any higher than the one given.

As always though I urge my readers to make up their own minds about theatre and if you're interested in watching LOOKING FOR GIANTS then it is playing at the King's Head Theatre in Islington until Sunday 26th January. Click here for more information and to book tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Looking for Giants was gifted by Chloe Nelkin Consulting who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST AND CREATIVES:

Writer & Director - Cesca Echlin

Performer & Dramaturg - Abby McCann

Associate Producer - Mathilda Wood

Marketing Manager - Holly Salewski

Lighting Designer - Skylar Turnbull Hurd

Associate Lighting Designer - Abigail Sage

Sound Designer - Sarah Spencer

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 10 minutes, with no interval

AGE GUIDELINE:

16+