Paul Sirett's living history play puts sixteenth-century necromancy in the picture and gives a stroppy teenager the fright of her life. Patricia Thompson plays B who has run away from home to the National Portrait Gallery, which she used to visit with her now deceased grandmother. In an amusing trot through history, Thompson's four fellow performers execute an impressive number of costume changes to play portraits quickened by the dark magic of one Dr Dee, magician and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. Thus, we see Beefy Botham play cricket with Margaret Thatcher and an equally beefy Henry VIII off to party with the celebs and scandalmongers on the top floor. On a set consisting largely of picture frames on black background, attention must be mostly taken up with the cast, and some slightly sluggish performances and overlong periods of exposition, coupled with unconvincing 'running away' (on the spot) scenes suggest that this exhibition could have been more tightly curated. Age 8-13.
