Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Sam Alton.
We are arguably incapable of dealing with the benefit of the internet without descending to the point of the rabble rousing crowd and the actions of the school yard bully; no matter the virtue that can be found in social media, there is an open wound in which we cannot but help pick at, keep scratching at till it bleeds, and in the end we end up looking for friendship in all the wrong places.
How we navigate the likes of Twitter, Facebook and every other site that offers to show a microcosm of our personality and life, speaks volumes, the problems that come with those armed with revolting jealousy, with their own agenda and the ability to cause harm is played out for others to see, and in the end all that should matter are the opinions of those who will love you, not use you, shake your hand and then ask snidely who you are, demean you, lose you in a fog of uncertainty.
An adaption of a story should reflect the times in which the original might not have conceived and in Weave, the audience is given two stories in one, the warning of modern day commercial beauty and the illusion of friendship when you depend on validation from those without the reason to feel empathy, who would steal your soul if they believed it looked better on them.
Sam Alton, already having wowed Liverpool audiences across the board during 2019, takes the idea of a manipulation to a different level, one filled with humour and despair, with piercing revelation and youthful prose, as she unfolds a narrative which asks all to understand the damage that falling in with a crowd can do, but also the cost in which we are happy to place our trust in an online world where beauty is defined as appearing nothing like the person we wish to be seen as.
Sam Alton fully deserves the praise that has come her way over the last few years, intelligent performances, a beguiling aura of vulnerability encased in a steely drive and determination. In a role that questions the nature of how beauty is gained and who benefits from the destruction of someone’s self-worth, Sam Alton frames the release of realisation perfectly.
A warning to us all, to avoid placing our faith in worlds that don’t care and to which the cost can be more than just losing face, Weave is the result of finding out the truth of how much others have paid to make you look good.
Ian D. Hall