Theatre / Reviews
Review: Walking the Chains, Passenger Shed
Marking the 150th anniversary of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Walking the Chains is an ambitious attempt to present the bridge’s (troubled) past and present through a blend of verbatim theatre, dramatisation and circus performance.
The core is provided by twin storylines of the struggles of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Tom Wainwright) to get the bridge built in the first place, and a tour guide (Cassie Webb) leading a present-day huddle of tourists along the world-famous structure.
Scattered through these two narratives are the reminiscences and observations of those who work on the bridge today, and a selection of incidents from its history.
Wainwright’s Brunel is a sizzling bundle of ambition and energy, an unstoppable force of nature striding the stage waving his cigar and top hat. As the tour guide, Webb delivers the diverse bridge-related facts which pack the show with great charm.
Yet there is something lacking in this production, and the end result is somewhat fragmented and sometimes dry.
The cause may lie with the subject matter. Unlike ACH Smith’s previous celebration of Bristol history Up the Feeder, Down the Mouth, which told the story of Bristol’s docks by capturing the warmth of a community, this piece focuses on a work of civil engineering: chilly stone and metal.
For all the affection we may feel for it, the bridge does not have soul.
There are also some technical flaws in this production. The runway staging, with banks of audience facing one another across the lengthy performance area, can lead to a seriously cricked neck and a sense that some of the action is happening a very long way away.
The sound system also struggles at times to cope with the challenging acoustics of the Passenger Shed. And in the oral history segments the script often appears to stick too slavishly to the actual words of those who originally spoke them, falling the wrong side of that fine balance between dramatic and verbatim.
Walking the Chains does not offer the spectacle or the warm personal engagement that one might have hoped for. But it is undoubtedly an encyclopaedic, easily digested presentation of everything you ever needed to know about the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and hometown-loving Bristolians will delight in its celebration of our iconic landmark.
Walking the Chains is at the Passenger Shed until January 25. For tickets and more information, visit www.colstonhall.org/shows/walking-chains/
Photos by Farrows Creative
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