Having never read the best-selling Kazuo Ishiguro book, or seen the film version of Never Let Me Go, I came to the Rose Theatre’s production with a completely open mind. And I found it a captivating, thought-provoking and very enjoyable production.
I saw Never Let Me Go while working as a volunteer usher at the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames. For a theatre geek like me, it’s a perfect volunteering role. I’m supporting a cash-strapped local theatre while also getting to see their productions. Never Let Me Go is a Rose original and is running until 12 October 2024. It’s then on tour at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate, Malvern Theatres and the Bristol Old Vic.
Never Let Me Go is set in an alternative version of England in the 1980s and 1990s, where biological clones are created to provide vital organs for the treatment of otherwise fatal illnesses in rich people. The play’s dystopian world focuses on a group of friends that attended Hailsham, a breeding ground for the clones that feels more like an elite boarding school.
The story is told through the memories of Kathy H, brilliantly played by Nell Barlow. She’s currently a carer for ‘donors’ and while waiting at a clinic with a particularly annoying one, she is persuaded to share her memories. They start in childhood with her Hailsham friends bursting through the clinic doors to bring her past to life. Grown actors playing children is always a little bit jarring for me, but fortunately, it doesn’t last too long and as they get older the cast really come into their own. Angus Imrie and Matilda Bailes are particularly good as Kathy’s closest friends Tommy and Ruth.
Initially, Hailsham comes across as an idyllic place and it’s unclear if its inhabitants really understand their fate. A teacher who decides they deserve to know everything is quickly dismissed. But over time Kathy and Tommy come to realise that the future Ruth and others talk about is not a path any of them will walk. They also realise that their connection runs much deeper than friendship, but this is thwarted for years by a jealous Ruth.
The first half of Never Let Me Go is pretty long at an hour and 25 minutes while the second half comes in just under an hour. But the story and performances are so compelling it goes by surprisingly quickly. It’s good to look at too. Tom Piper’s design and Joshua Carr’s lighting seamlessly switch the stage between the school, clinic, beach and town. Central to the set are multiple double doors through which the characters repeatedly enter and exit until their last exit when they ‘complete’. Or in other words, die following their final organ donation. And there’s also a beautiful and haunting title song recorded by West End musicals star Marisha Wallace that stayed with me long after I left the theatre.
It’s certainly all very unsettling, not least because in a world where stories of human trafficking and modern slavery regularly make the news, it doesn’t feel impossible for something like this to happen. But for now, it’s just fiction and I think the story has been brought to life exceptionally well by the Rose Theatre’s production team and a stellar cast.
You can book tickets for the Rose on the theatre website and also find out more about volunteering as an usher. For the tour dates, google the relevant theatre. And I’m sure you’ll also find information about volunteering on those and other local theatre websites.
And for more theatre reviews do keep an eye on the Arts section of my blog.