Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast:  Grace Chapman, Sophie Cullen, Nicholas Pitt, Ellie Simpson, Joel Gatehouse, Kate Stanley.

Who controls the words you see? Who do the words that each and every human on the planet fortunate enough to read and enjoy, belong to each and every day? For those that lose the ability to see the words that have meant so much to them, the psychological damage can be devastating.

Borges And I by Idle Motion is a powerful and evocative look at the life of Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentinean writing colossus who despite starting to lose his sight at a very young age went onto become arguably one of the finest writers in the history of Argentina. The play interweaves with the physical interaction with books and words, the life of Borges and the effect that near sudden blindness can also have on the life of young woman who has the same loving relationship with the sentences on the paper as she does with the romantic interest in her life. Both are much loved.

The six strong cast worked together very well and the times when the physical aspect of the play, the metaphors that were skilfully bound like a fresh first edition and the subtle humour of the piece were a joy and perfected superbly. Nowhere did this stand out more than with the relationship between Sophie, the very superb and incredible Sophie Cullen, whose life is turned upside down by meeting the man of her dreams and the sudden headaches that start the eye degeneration and Nicholas Pitt as Jim. These two lovers went through every range of emotion, from the anger and frustration of her ordeal to the acceptance which was captured beautifully at the end of the play.

The words of course belong to everyone, not everyone can see them, not everyone wants to but they are there and the cruelty of both Borges and Sophie’s conditions were at all times sensitively handled by this very clever performance, a very interesting and enjoyable piece of art that speaks volumes.

Ian D. Hall