Free (Tour-Drum Theatre)

AWARD-winning David Lane‘s Free, fresh from youth theatre gateway organisation Half Moon, is heralded as a hard-hitting story for teenagers.

Parkour – free-running – is the bond between teenagers Zara and Kris in a short but very wordy piece.

Set mainly on the rooftops of London, we are never quite sure quite who Zara is or where she has come from but she is just what angst-wracked Kris needs.

Learning to let go of the past is key – whether that is a nightmare of murder and rape in a desert landscape or the guilty loss of a best friend.

Engaging and atmospheric, Free is designed as a thought-provoking piece for youngsters with reality merging with the imaginary while questioning whether one can really outrun memories.

Thomas Simper makes a good fist of desolate teen Kris while Katy Daghorn is engaging as the mysterious Zara however both suffer from overlong poetic monologues despite tight direction from Chris Elwell.

Verity Quinn‘s design is urban and metallic but simple enough that, with lighting changes by Fred Beaufort, the audience is transported from the City skyline to the streets of Algate East.

Interesting but would be better with an edit