All of these are encapsulated in one hour by 5 extraordinarily imaginative young performers accompanied by impressive projections, lighting and props. Mostly an ensemble peace, two simple stories are played out over the course of the one day in 1987 when Michael Fish got it famously wrong - the Great Storm of 1987, one of the worst the country has ever had. We are told retrospectively of a prospective meteorologist going for a job interview explaining the science behind the cause of the hurricane, how it (initially) failed to be detected and how people coped during the ensuing days of catastrophe. Unfortunately Grace Chapman struggles with the large amount of statistics and facts she has to communicate and her monotone delivery does make the information slightly less interesting then it was. Fortunately the cast perform incredible visualisations of the origins of the weather forecast system that very easily communicate a very complicated idea.
Meanwhile a minor love story is played out during the storm and as love is want to do, barely acknowledges the tragedy of the world around it . The awkward comedy is played realistically by Alex Kearley-Sheirs and Kate Stanley and while their story is somewhat predictable, the characters are so likable you get drawn in. Yet again I will say they are all fantastic physical performers and both a tasteful love scene and the two drifting apart (both making good use of a bed) are incredibly powerful.
In the end though this is an ensemble piece. According to their Twitter feed an injury to one of the cast meant a re-blocking with one less performer, not that you could tell. There are spectacular sequences as the hurricane grows in strength and destruction is raged upon Britain - simply using handfuls of leaves and violent body movements is enough to show how frightening these moments were. Even simple scenes of telephone calls and travelling on buses leave an impression on the audience. Needless to say, the audience were thrilled and laughing, with an applause that didn't want to end. If possible try and see this show or at least see this splendid company who I have no doubt will go on to further success and rightly so.
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