THEATRE REVIEW: The Twilight Zone ★★★

The Twilight Zone
Ambassadors Theatre, London
Monday 4th March - Saturday 1st June 2019

Adapted from the American Francis's cult classic TV series, which originally ran between 1959-1964, with the most recent, third revival, airing later this year from Writer and Director Jordan Peele, The Twilight Zone transported viewers into another dimension, years before other sci-fi shows Doctor Who and Star Trek came along, and at the time was unlike anything yet to be seen on television screens. Anne Washburn's adaption to the stage brings to life stories often intertwined, with some standalone tales, but fails to bring imagination and wonder that other productions in London such as Harry Potter are continuing to excel through the medium of magic.

This production, often weaved through with the themes of humanity and self-defence, within the moment become masterpieces within Washburn's vision, whilst mixed together with Mimi Jordan Sherin & D.M Wood's translucent lighting , and Paul Steinberg's set design, but the actors for the majority of these moments lack the real energy and conviction in their characters, which would often be multilayered and in the ensemble of characters that they portray. At times the production feels chaotic with so many individual forgettable stories, though one in the second act will stick out in most minds as being the longest and most compelling moments of the evenings entertainment.

The Ambassador's Theatre auditorium suits nicely to this intimate setting, with not a bad view in sight looking up towards the upper circle, and this really benefits the staging and feel like we are being transported; I think at times I took the production too seriously, as other audience members audibly laughed, which in comparison I found only happening once in the production. It was the hold of the climax of the first act which made myself stick around for the second, which felt looser in the writing and contained the more heartfelt tales, one involving Solar Number 2 being another particular highlight from the production.

Overall, with so much anticipation and hype piled onto this production following it's successful stint at The Almeida Theatre last year, though I found myself enjoying the tender, more dramatic standalone tales in this production, the more interwoven and lack of visual effects made the whole atmosphere feel stale, with standard effects and rehashed scene changes making what could have been a visual spectacular be venturing into the other dimension feel more static and plain in comparison.