Takin over the Lyceum

This is what happens when you go to the preview nights at the Lyceum. Tickets are £7.50 but unallocated seating, so you get a million elderly people turning up more than 45 minutes early and queuing round and round the foyer.

We went to see Takin over the asylum which is a play about hospital radio set in a psychiatric hospital. Theoretically I'm well on board with the concept of using meaningful activities to improve mental health (part of my day job) and that's all in there. But. I didn't gel with it.

I'm not sure I can blame the play, it was nice enough and Cyclops enjoyed it. But having seen the original 1994 TV drama starring David Tennant this just wasn't as good. The character exposition seemed forced and obvious which I think is natural when you squeeze six hours down into two. But for me it lost some of the compassion of the original. You should all get the DVD.

Plus, with the instant feedback of the audience, I was never quite sure whether people were laughing 'at' or 'with' the characters and the stigmatising language they used, for example "we are loonies and we are proud" being a key repeating sentiment.