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What’s your star sign? Even the biggest sceptic knows what astrological animal they were born under (Richard Dawkins is an Aries, in case you were wondering). But what happens if you get that fierce sceptic in a room full of free spirits? Ian Dixon-Potter and Robert Pope ponder just this in their new play ‘The School of Light’.
Harry is an astronomer who finds himself at an astrology meeting. The School of Light are a band of subcultural stereotypes; the hippy dippy – very pretty – flower child; the gothic youth; the alien nut; the needy divorcee and the manipulative leader, Tarquin. It’s a combustive combination and soon the group are telling Harry – with no malice in their hearts, of course – to piss off.
Linda Miller’s production sees them prowling around Andy Robinson’s compact set of beanbags. They jab at each other with the efficiency of prizefighters but without their grace, and there’s no real subtly to their arguments. Still it’s pretty even-handed and while we’re ostensibly on the side of rational Harry, there’s empathy for the wacky truth of the others too: there are some things in life that we just can’t explain.
The cast each get their five minutes of fame as they ‘present’ their spiritual contribution to the group. It’s touching to see Sunflower (Yuna Shin) and Harry (Dan Maclane) warm to each other, thawing the inherent barrier of belief. But there’s a sense that no one in this cast really feels comfortable in their own skin, apart from Nicholas Koy Santillo whose deliciously affected goth-child The Master somewhat ironically steals the limelight with every dark drawl.