I'VE BEEN MEANING TO ASK YOU

Sometimes we forget or dismiss the questions that children ask us, especially if they're questions about growing up; if they're questions about us adults. Or go to response is I'll tell you when you're older or that's a silly question. But the inquisitive nature of child doesn't just disappear because you don't respond, but in fact, it fuels them to ask even more questions, like why you didn't reply to the last question they asked you or the one before that? Are you having a bad day? Do you not want your child to become the next Einstein?

But director Daniel Evans hasn't ignored their questions. In fact, him and his masterful creative team have formed a work in which not only is it okay for kids to ask a lot of questions, but they have a voice. And adults all over the world, including one in Russia, have heard their voice answered and they for sixty delightful minutes, they share their newfound knowledge with the audience. And the eighteen youth performers show shine on stage.

Where do I begin? I loved all of it. From top to bottom. I loved how each performer had a torch which they shone on their faces when they agreed with a response given and how at the closing of the performance, the audience members opened the 'do not open' marked box underneath our chairs to find a torch, and then it was time for us to shine or not shine, the torch on our face.

There were delicate tender moments, that touched on mental health, bad days and feelings that we often keep locked inside. Craig Wilkinson transformed the stage into a beautiful roaming galaxy which was then transferred onto a white sheet, in which actors used to hide or stay away from, which tied in together beautifully with the theme. The climax of the scene was when two children were lying on top of the figurative stars and having a mature conversation with each other in which you could tell that they were both fighting their battles. But the stars and the planets still spun around them even though they might have felt like a black-hole, and it was such a beautiful moment on stage; a striking moment of storytelling when the text and the visual design truly served as one. It could be interesting to see, in future works, if there is a way in which to interweave the dark moments and the light moments.

There was a lot of humour in the performance as well, like when a large number of actors strongly disagreed with the question about fortnite or when they were discussing embarrassing moments, such as someone farting in a room so loudly that everyone across the vicinity could hear him. I loved how the show started with light topics and then descended into the trickier, denser topics. I loved listening to everyone's favourite songs and I truly do believe that anonymous who submitted 'Circle of Life' from the Lion King as their favourite song was me, as, like many others, I was preferred to have my identity unknown. I loved hearing what each child wanted to be, what values they wanted to uphold, where they wanted to leave. I loved that one of my acting students was on stage and had this opportunity to be in such an innovative, thought-provoking, confetti filled and fun production.

What can I say? I really loved it. Well done to the cast and creatives of I've Been Meaning to Ask You.

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