Reviews

Best in the World

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7 August 2012

Northern Stage at St Stephen’s

“Eat your heart out Pinter,” reads a caption at the start of Best in the World, an irreverent ramble through the world of professional darts, “we’ve got drama with a capital D in Essex”.

Presented by Alex Elliot, the show comprises a quirky combination of sporting trivia, confessional storytelling and group therapy (with a few bananas thrown in for good measure), all loosely held together by the tale of the greatest darts champion of them all, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.

It’s high time Taylor received a theatrical tribute. After training under Eric Bristowe (who at the time was suffering from the brilliantly-monikered condition ‘dartitis’), he rose to become the undisputed world champion, winning countless titles and pulling off no end of incredible darting feats in the process.

Several of these feats are recounted with the aid of video, while Elliot intersperses Taylor’s tale with some everyday stories of heroics; at one point we’re invited to write a personal triumph on a paper aeroplane and float it onto the stage. He also touchingly links his own achievements as an actor to those of his sporting subjects, questioning whether his commitment went too far when his missed his father’s funeral due to an acting job in Barcelona.

Annie Rigby’s production for her own Unfolding Theatre company is a fine addition to Northern Stage’s inaugural programme at St Stephen’s (the former home of Aurora Nova). Although thematically it’s unfocussed, never really getting to the root of what it means to be ‘the best’, it nevertheless hits a bullseye for atmosphere and originality.