Drama Trip to Frantic Assembly’s “The Unreturning”

On the 27 February, the combined Fourth Form and Lower Sixth drama groups went to watch Frantic Assembly’s latest show, “The Unreturning” at the Oxford Playhouse.  This was an amazing performance in many ways, but what drew me most from it was the way in which light, sound and action all combined to produce a theatrical experience that was truly cutting edge.

The story line and the approach to narrative structure were also highly innovative with three overlapping tales of veterans returning from conflict to the town of Scarborough across the centuries.  The performance thus necessarily involved a great deal of multi-roling from the four male performers and from my point of view, it was brilliant for the boys to see robust, strong male actors giving beautifully nuanced and well-observed representations of women on stage.  I certainly hope to see this emulated in forthcoming performances in the Powell.

The feedback from the boys who were lucky enough to be able to experience this great production was fantastic and I certainly hope to see many of the physical theatre techniques appearing in their devised work over the next few years, alongside the wonderfully fluid approach to drama.

Ian Reade