Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: John McKeever, Anna-Helena McLean, Clare Perkins.

In the back of our minds, we all hope, perhaps secretly, that we will be remembered for the good we have bought into the world. Even if by the smallest gesture, the one thing that makes our existence meaningful will somehow transform the way the world is looked at. It need not even be a grand gesture, the erection of a large building and dedicated to all for example but in just the smallest way, the tiniest particle of our humanity passed on might give hope to millions.

Such is the life of one woman who was discovered to have an anomaly in her genetic make-up that even though cancer claimed her life, the anomaly within that cancer was enough to start a revolution in the fight against the silent serial killer.

With a story told though the eyes of two women, both with a tale of loss decades apart, How To Be Immortal was captured fully as a piece of theatre in which the audience were left captivated throughout. The three actors holding the attention of all inside the Unity Theatre from start to finish. In 90 minutes Mira Dovreni, the actors and Penny Dreadful Productions did more for the fight against a disease, perhaps even unwittingly, than a hundred Government advertisements.

How To Be Immortal was further enhanced by the gorgeous music supplied by Anna-Helena McLean on cello. This beautiful addition to the performance as her character went through a sort of rebuilding hell and breaking down the sequence of the mistake in the genetic code of her partner Mick and turning into a piece of modern classical music was inspiring, incredible and downright beautiful. If the message behind the play had the audience wavering on the point of using their hankies, then the music may well have tipped them over the edge.

With the production dealing with the idea of keeping the memory of a loved one alive after they have passed on, Mira Dovreni’s How To Be Immortal will surely have the same effect, a play that will remain on in the memory and be passed down like a much valued heirloom. Deceptively engaging and fully worth being a part of.

Ian D. Hall