Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Rachel Worsley, Rik Grayson, Errol Smith, Harki Bhambra.

There is a tightening feel in the back of the throat. The stomach, once calm in the open air of the London streets has started to behave like a badly serviced washing machine and the dank, dirty, dusty air is causing the lungs and pores to feel as though scrubbing for a month will not get the skin clean as it clings and scrapes away at any vestige left of reason like an urban fox clawing at the remains of a deep fried chicken and chips strewn on the pavements after one last beer was had.

Such is the feel of the London underground when a train suddenly stops, its carriages full of passengers on their way home, full of dreams, hopes, late night shopping or on their way to a play in the West End, an art exhibition in Whitechapel or a gig at the old Hammersmith Odeon, such was the normality of the day in July 2005 when several bombs rocked the capital and bought a new type of terror to British streets, the terror that is paranoia and suspicion.

For Joe Ward Munrow and Ella Carmen, the writing team behind the superb Mind The Gap, the premise of a doing something as ordinary as catching a tube train on The underground is heightened by the narrowness of the set, the confines, sometimes brutally stifling, adds a generosity to the play that only extenuates the uniqueness to the production and captures a moment in time in which tempers become frayed and twisted because of the way that people have become conditioned not to talk or even make eye contact with strangers on the train.

The four actors each gave superb portrayals of ordinary people shunted together in a situation, which though benign, had the potential to become like the sky during an electric storm, full of wonder and potentially a flash point in which could ignite something devastating. Rik Grayson, as Polish pot washer Piotr and Errol Smith’s Darren performances though was supercharged as they threated to spill over into the carriage, a powerful and thought provoking message from both actors.

The Unity Theatre once more captures the emotions of modern living in Mind The Gap, the pushing of boundaries exemplified in Mr. Ward Munrow and Ms. Carmen’s electrifying hour. Great theatre doesn’t need to be grand, it just has to speak to you with understanding and heart, both of which were on offer.  Mind The Gap takes the audience to places which might feel claustrophobic but offers much to explain the human condition when confronted by unchecked paranoia.

Ian D. Hall