It has been a while (a whole 10 days ago) since I attended the performance of Touch at Liverpool’s Unity Theatre. I am not sure why this write up has taken me so long to write. It should not be taken as an indication of how I felt the performance was. – More to do with me not having the.. effort to write and do it justice, as, as you know I am usually pretty good on writing these updates and reviews. Anyway, let’s stop the excuses and get on with it…

This was a local event for me which should have meant a bus to and from the event. But for one reason or another, it was two taxi’s, one there and one back that I used, and it was a good job too because I did not arrive till gone 7pm. The event was due to start at 7:30pm and it was already 7:15pm when I arrived. I bought a drink and awaited the opening of the house. When it did it was un-allocated seating meaning you were free to sit wherever you wished. I took up a place on the right of the main seating block in the isle seat. The venue was almost full but not quite every seat was taken, surprising considering the even was apparently sold-out.

The stage was pre-set when the audience was allowed into the house and was simplistic with a square lined by strip-type led lights with a white box on each corner of the box… and that is it. Lighting is presented as simple but with a few setup’s for later in the performance. But for the most part, things are kept very simple. It is not immediately obvious if this minimalist design is a choice made by the Writer & Director team of two, or if this is more of a requirement of having a very small budget upon which to put on this performance of Touch which has twice been affected and delayed by the Pandemic. Touch has not – to my knowledge – received any Arts Council funding as yet and so they have been relying upon the generosity and donations from the public watching the performance and through a small fundraising campaign. Flood Theatre, who are the creatives behind this project is a small theater company made up with Director Jessica Meade and Writer Becky Downing.

As the performance starts, four actors join the stage and walk to stand by each of the four boxes. A monologue is launched into by ‘Jake’ who is a young autistic man who is very passionately into the history and story of the ancient Egyptians. Jana is a young German Mother living in Liverpool who loves charity shops and her toddler but finds motherhood lonely and very tiring. Yume is a Mother living in Liverpool who loves art, philosophy and experiences loneliness in their identity. She seems to be struggling to leave the house or go outside. She is looking after an 11 year old boy who is taller than her. Finally Callum is a young man who loves football, fitness and his Girlfriend Laura. He has a great sense of humor and is very passionate. But sometimes he feels a little lost in a large social group and longs to get away and had experiences in his life. He misses the lads when he is away, but they are always there doing the same thing which doesn’t sit right with him. Touch is a very clever and creative example of verbatim theater which has been based upon the responses from interviews held with hundreds of young and local people. The play touches and relies upon the pursuit of connection and how we find and navigate love, create intimate moments and handle loneliness in a world that is constantly connected. You can still feel loneliness.

Delivered through interconnected monologues from the four actors, overlapping and intertwining together. Somehow this works and is quite easy to follow. I’ve never seen a performance like this before and I think the young cast really did this play and the written material justice. I think its one that really needs to be… experienced by the individual. – But that seems to be the issue with Touch right now. It’s funding, or the lack of it. This performance was the only performance of Touch that I know of. It was performed to members of the cast’s family with whom I had the pleasure of sitting with and chatting to afterwards. I wont go into more details about the performance itself because – spoilers. So if you do happen to see a listing for ‘Touch’ available at your local theater, do go check it out yourself.

A panel was arranged 20 minutes after the performance itself which saw the full cast along with Jessica Meade & Becky Downing on the stage. Questions were asked from the on-stage moderator and translated by a BSL-registered translator. Questions were then opened up to those from the audience. This can be a mixed bag as sometimes you tend to get really.. stupid questions, or questions that can be answered with a singular yes or no answer. These panels are becoming more and more common and while in this case were funding is being asked for, I can understand why this post-show discussion was arranged. I enjoyed sitting and listening to more about the creative process that Director Jessica Meade and Writer Becky Downing, together with the actors through workshops and rehearsals prior to this premier performance.

In summary, if you see Touch advertised anywhere… go see it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.