Review: The Light Burns Blue, Bristol Old Vic

The story at the heart of The Light Burns Blue begins in the Yorkshire village of Cottingley on 1 April 1917, in the middle of World War I. Two adolescent girls, Elsie Wright and her cousin Frances, cause a press furore by appearing to have photographed a group of fairies frolicking in a woodland.

The photographs are now an infamous and iconic piece of early-20th-century visual culture, created at a time when death was omnipresent in the minds of every British family, and when belief in God and the Church was being replaced by a growing taste for esoterica and the spirit world: table tapping, Ouija boards, theosophy, spirit emanations and clairvoyancy. And the Fairie realms: “Let’s discuss the fairies, they are remarkably fashionable, aren’t they?”

In collaboration with Tonic Theatre as part of their laudable Platform Project, Bristol Old Vic Young Company settled on this story for dramatisation not only because it’s an intriguing one, but also because it offers plenty of scope for exploring female roles.

This is the first show to be directed by Lisa Gregan since taking up her role as Young Company director. As a self-confessed feminist, Lisa was refreshingly open in the post-show discussion about her desire to develop repertoire that addresses the existing lack of strong female roles for young performers, beyond that of perennial love interest.

In performance, the well-cast Young Company actors (impossible to credit them individually, as the programme only lists names ensemble-style) feel palpably committed to this piece, not surprisingly as they each had a stake in helping to devise it, under the wing of writer Silva Semerciyan.

Having the latter on board in this show seems to mark a significant turning point in the quality and impact of YC work, and an upping of their game in terms of theatricality and production values. This show is engaging, dynamic, content-rich and very slick. Gregan moves her young cast around the beautifully spare set with a deft fluidity, without the use of any fussy props or tricks. The narrative is punctuated by strikingly choreographed and stylised ensemble moments, the quality of which makes it hard to believe that this is a young, amateur cast at work.

The play covers much ground related to female friendships, the collective willingness to suspend disbelief and the tendency to underestimate unlikely artistry beneath the clamour of a cause célèbre. This is not a fairytale – the dramatic story has dark psychological overtones: “Why can’t stories ever be about kind people who get along?”

A little more could have been made of Elsie’s collaboration with Frances, as it wasn’t very clear at the outset that the girls were in cahoots to produce their spectral images. And the young cast could really benefit from working with a good voice coach to make the best of cadence and musicality in their spoken text.

In the unravelling of this genial hoax, the why is every bit as interesting as the how. Whether you believe in fairies yourself or not (I swear I once saw some in a bluebell wood, aged five. My playmates saw them too, honest), do allow yourself to be enchanted and transported by this latest tale of ethereal but earthy magic from the BOV Young Company.

The Light Burns Blue runs at Bristol Old Vic Studio from Wednesday, April 15 to Saturday, April 18. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/thelightburnsblue.html