Could It Be Magic? (2003)

“Prepare to be bewildered, touched and amused in equal measure on this rediscovery of lost wonder and mislaid love.” Metro

Written and devised by The Company

First performed at Crucible Studio, Sheffield
21 – 31 May 2003

In February 2002, in a flat in Plymouth overlooking the sea, this show began as a discussion about English identity and history. In September that year we were in Uley talking about family trees and looking for lighthouses on the Welsh coast and by Christmas we were in Camden, in the rain, thinking about what we trusted and why we need something to believe in. Finally, one Monday morning, we found ourselves scribbling on the Crucible Studio floor, chalking out a map. This show came from that map and our attempt to answer, genuinely and in its many guises, the question we posed ourselves…could it be magic?

Produced in association with Sheffield Theatres, MAGIC? was about being English, being a weather girl, being a stranger and being unable to tell people that you love them.

This show was developed further and morphed into Zero Degrees & Drifting.

Here follows a response received via email from a (French) audience member based in the UK:

“Dear Unlimited People,

I attended “Could It Be Magic?” last night and feel quite rewarded for having ‘tasted’ a new work of drama, having trusted a good review about it and having waited overnight to tell you about it.

“Could It Be Magic?” was unusual and unlimited for sure but it was particularly difficult to fall under the spell at once. It feels so rich, intelligent, creative and modern. In your language is a faith that encompasses the present, giving it, and us, a future.

Throughout the performance there were times when I was not all grasped by it, when pauses and profusion of words left me out of it yet at the end it was like thinking these moments had not been wasted for I knew it had collided with the rest to build a theatrical ambience and tale out of the ordinary, completely out of what has been seen and heard before, and yes it made me pleased I could have made it to your show.

Finally, once back home I had a drink in the coolness of that wonderful evening and thought “Damn, I wish I had paid them a drink and have a chat with them, but it’s important to reflect (It wouldn’t have been possible to say all these things last night) and good to feel what Theatre does…let IT be injected into your veins and flow like a drug mixed in with your bright red blood, alive.”

Welcome to the show. We hope you can make it.

Metro review