The Sandman

The Everyman Theatre, Liverpool

February 17 – February 21 (then touring until March 18)

Director: Glen Noble
Producer: Spike Theatre
Cast: Kate Crossley, Anthony Cairns, Steve Wallis, Matthew Wood
Running Time: 1 hr 25 minutes.

The Sandman is one of those productions that is at once perplexing and difficult to take your eyes off. Sadly however, the latter is in the misguided hope that something interesting might take place within the next five minutes and the former is in the problem of not being able to quite put ones finger on exactly why it isn’t working.

The premise of a mythological figure stealing the eyes of children as they sleep is beguiling enough to open up a whole world of possibility. The set and myriad of props, too, are used to the full and add to the atmosphere being created. It certainly isn’t the acting that let proceedings down, especially that of Kate Crossley in the role of twelve-year old Greta, whose energy and cheeky, childish charm is laudable.

So the answer lies elsewhere and having an intensely annoying musical score scratch its way throughout certainly doesn’t help, played as it is to such an extent it smashes any passion the work possesses with all the subtlety of a brick being hurled through a stained glass window.

Above all though is the fact that it’s difficult to care much about what happens to any of the characters and in a story written to frighten and moralise, surely having empathy with at least one is essential? Spike Theatre is an adventurous company and both it and Glen Noble have done some excellent work in the past. Unfortunately The Sandman isn’t a piece to add to the list and sleeping on this venture a little longer would have been advisable.

Chris High

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