Lost cause at the property office

THE Library Company takes a turn away from its second home at the Lowry to what will in a couple of years become its new permanent home between the Mancunian Way and the old Hacienda.

But this pseudo-philosophical, “Crash”-style coming together of disparate stories into a relatively unified whole, is sadly a bit lame.

Though the stories are occasionally quite poignant and the 90-minute show even throws in some (fairly bad) singing — even a choir for the finale — the premise is something I thought had gone out of fashion decades ago. The semi-abstract lost-property-office-as-lost-souls interchange is like something from the Fifties or Sixties.

The audience is taken up to the office block’s fifth floor, there to be led into a lost property office nicely created and packed with junk by the design team.

Ninety minutes later, a quick burst of choral singing, a bit more cod philosophy and a look out of some rather nice picture windows and we’re out again.

But these extra touches, while entertaining, add little but set dressing (and after a while, extremely uncomfortable cushion-topped boxes and chairs to sit on) to the dramas unfolded.

Developing these fun-essentials means little time seems to have been spent by writer Jackie Kay and composer Errollyn Wallen on filling in the stories, characters and other details.

The cast does its best, but given the characters are thinly developed, doesn’t get very far. John Branwell as the avuncular lost property office boss and Anne Kidd as early-stage dementia sufferer Jessie, fare best.

The latter has a far more interesting (and thinly explained) background than the play: namely a daughter (Pauline — Claire Brown) she gave up as a baby and with whom she has been back in touch in secret, so as not to upset her second daughter, Shanti (Amelia Donkor).

The two sisters have now also lost stuff but found each other — and Pauline’s son Louis (Marcquelle Ward), umbrella-losing LPO regular Omar (Tachia Newall) and lost, suicidal Anna (Bettrys Jones), also have occasion to visit the property office during our own visit.

But nothing much is explained or resolved, and the air is at times more student drama workshop than renowned rep company production.



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