This is a play based upon a Terry Pratchett book in his Discworld series. If you didn’t know that and have never read the books, then this is probably not the show for you. I know Mr Pratchett has written a play based on the book but whether this is that official version, I can’t tell.
The story is of a young boy who has reached the age where he is to be apprenticed and the person who chooses him is Death. Being Death’s apprentice he gets to travel and meet people (briefly), not to mention staying at Death’s home with Death’s (adopted) daughter Isabel and the servant Albert. Also as Death’s apprentice most people are unable to see him which means when he falls in love with a princess while on the job (taking her dad), she doesn’t know he exists. So when he saves her life by killing the assassin that was supposed to kill her, things get a little complicated. Death has gone missing, magicians need to be found and persuaded to fix things and Mort must fight a duel for his honour.
The problems I had with this version were that the cuts between scenes left a lot of important linking information out, Death’s voice was a little too distorted to be understood at times, the actors were sometimes so eager that they spoke over one another’s lines, the ending was too rushed and didn’t really wrap things up properly. The acting and props were generally good and apart from one accident during the duel, everything worked well. Maybe with a slightly longer running time this could have been a much more cohesive play. If you are a fan of Mr Pratchett’s work then you enjoy yourself but if not, I’m afraid this will probably not be the show for you.
Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.