On Saturday 20th October at 7.30pm, the Commodore Hotel in Cobh is the appropriate venue for the Quids In Theatre Company from Aberdeen Scotland performance of Heaven’s Gate by Annie James. Written to commemorate the centennial of RMS
Titanic, the play is set in the few hours following the disaster and
focuses on the fate of three people on board. Will they survive or
like 1500 others, perish? In this forum theatre production, the
audience will decide the ending. This performance is free but
donations will be accepted.
Review published in ThreeWeeks Edinburgh
As we file into the theatre we are given a name and voting card; the card bears the name of a real person who sailed on the HMS Titanic, but no more information is given. What follows is an exploration of the role of fate for those who were on-board the ship. With no sign of the clichéd likes of Rose or Jack in sight, ‘Heaven’s Gate’ creates interesting characters, each with their own back story. The conversation is sometimes a little stilted, but moments of humour save the play from becoming dull: Jamie Begg – the waiter – is particularly amusing. That said, the play’s greatest asset is its use of audience participation and the way that the voting cards give the whole audience the opportunity to determine a character’s fate, making for an interesting and interactive experience.
