Liverpool Sound & Vision Rating: * * * *

Cast: Nick Birkinshaw.

Testing Testing productions returns to the Unity with their mind-bending show The Judgement of Hakim. From the pen of Andrew Sherlock, he explores the idea of all of us being guilty of something, and how far we are willing to go to find it. The audience are very much a part of this show, and questions and accusations are made as to why we are here, what we have done and that nobody will get away with it; whatever ‘it’ may be.

With Mark Smith as director, (Spike Theatre) they have broken the rules of conventional theatre, as the spotlight is turned away from the stage and moved in parts onto the audience. The whole point of Sherlock’s script is his observations of people and their behaviour. He makes a fine job in creating the character Hakim, played once again by the superb Nick Birkinshaw.

There are three assistants who observe and take notes during the performance, though reassurance is given that they are most definitely not guards, and we can leave the auditorium at any time but only with permission. There is a screen at the back of the stage where at certain points during the evening images are shown and repeated. These are, so our host Hakim tells us, disorientation sessions. It is at this point that you realise you are under interrogation. Fear not though, as no audience member is harmed during the play, however tension is built up to a dramatic conclusion and you leave as you have entered; none the worse for wear and with a desire for a glass of wine.

Innovative storytelling, which really steps outside the box of conventional theatre, Sherlock’s brilliant script at times is unsettling and the action is mainly focused on the audience however, Testing Testing Productions have produced a unique theatre experience.

Janie Phillips