THEATRE REVIEW: The Silver Sword ★★★

The Silver Sword

The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Saturday 26th September 2015

It's the opening night of this musical adaptation of Ian Serraillier's novel of The Silver Sword, and it's a packed out house as the audience wait in anticipation to watch the action unfold on stage.

Straight away just from entering the auditorium you almost feel the sense of being transported back in time the events after WWII, as where this novel was set in Poland, just from the rustic look of the set on stage, where crates, baskets, chairs and carts are all piled on, with also the addition to the piano, which has been cleverly camouflaged on the stage. The lighting also gives the set a wartime feel with the golden feel to the production.

As the production starts, all the company arrive on stage and introduce themselves as 'Storytellers', and with a whole array of instruments, start to play and speak of the 'The Teller of the Tales', a perfectly written catchy tune that is repeated several times throughout the course of the show. As they interact with the audience and with the use of the projection at the back, the company are to decide which tale they would like to tell today, and just like the name itself, they resort to 'The Silver Sword', which follows Ruth, Edek and Bronia, as they search for their father who was separated from them for over a year due to the war, and on their journey meet 14 year old Yan, who unknown to the children carries the exact silver sword that was given to him by their father, who met Yan just before he decided to go on the search for his three children and journey to Switzerland.

The performances given on stage are so gripping and realistic you really get caught up in all the action and feel like you are a part of the story, and the songs just keep on giving and provide so much more depth to the story, keeping the audience constantly entertained! Credit really must be given though to all the young performers on stage for their constant enthusiasm and energy performances throughout, where they never failed to deliver in any aspect as they carried the performance along effortlessly!

Overall, The Silver Sword was a genuine heartwarming story with so much soul and enjoyed from audiences of all ages!