Moon Tiger - Review by Jason Patel

***** (5 Stars)

The Lowry, Manchester - Monday 17 February, 2014

Claudia Hampson, our protagonist, is a popular historian played by Jane Asher. Now in her seventies, Hampson is terminally ill and planning her best work - a history of the world. A strong, independent and beautiful woman, she looks back throughout her life, before, during and after WW2 and we discover the many characters and significant events that have brought her to this point today. There's Gordon, her adored brother; Jasper, a charming untrustworthy lover who is the father to her daughter, Lisa. Then finally we meet Tom, a passionate man who is Claudia’s true love. They met and lost each other during the El Alamein campaign when she worked as a war correspondent.

The set is a hospital bedroom with five plain wooden chairs and eight digital panels, which provide smooth transitions and keep the piece on track. It provides us with dates and images of location to help Jane Asher with her narrating of her events. The lighting is similar throughout and only small changes are made to show different locations and moods.

Moon Tiger is just outstanding and  director Stephen Unwin puts in an incredible amount of effort to make this piece interesting and lively. There are so many fascinating and complex characters to explore and discover. Jane Asher gives the audience total commitment to the character and a the performance you can’t forget.

The first act starts brilliantly but because it is so heavily spoken by Jane’s character Claudia, it starts to fall flat and on one level lacks excitement. However, it picks up at the end of the first half when we are introduced to Tom and their passionate romance. The second act is packed full of heartfelt emotions and brilliant climaxes. The explosion is the biggest shock near to the end of the piece and makes the whole audience jump: a complete shock.

I highly recommend this piece to anyone who gets a chance to see it. Jane Asher gives a brilliant performance with her five co-actors, and the production is in one word, outstanding.

Moon Tiger is running at The Lowry until Saturday 22 February before embarking on a Tour: http://www.thelowry.com/event/moon-tiger

Photo: Simon Annand