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"Spillikin" a new play by John Welch performed by Pipeline Theatre at Edinburgh Festival 2015 - a review

Spillikin  a play by John Welch perfomed at the Edinburgh Ftinge Festival 2015 by Pipeline Theatre

Another great new play from Cornish company Pipeline Theatre with writer John Welch and Jude and Alan Munden producers following their controversial internet work "Streaming" which played in London last year without attracting the attention of the critics to any degree (why.)

This show closes with a realistic rendition of Chet Baker's My Funny Valentine sung by ahighly empathetic   robot.   I cannot be alone in wahting to take this character home with me. To anyone priveleged to be familiar with John Welch's entertaining` funny and acutely well observsed writing as the current writer is proud to be the lachrymose love song provides a jazz signature that pervades his work.

See this show for stagecraft, robot realism,  a warm love story exploring gawky awkward teenagers in a first love which turns into abiding love  and care and a fast moving realistic script by John Welch whos previous credits include "Streaming",  "Transports"  a story about the memory of the Kindertransport" and dysfunctional present day adolescents,  
We see the couple meet  - all this data has been programmed from Raymond's archive into the data memory of th robot-

Primarily a love story told in flash back between a young teenage couple and their elder selves.

We have a braniac shy anorak who is introduced to whisky in a rite of passage by a post punk` red haried funky, drama school "quitter"

Amy senior is losing her mind and her loss of names and words attests to growing dementia,  her husband is absent at a conference but we gradually realise as the plot unfolds that he has actually died,   a fact that is now lost  or "unremembered" by Amy. The robot has been programmed by Raymond to care for the love of his life.   Love and affection gradually grows between the dementing Amy and the sympathetic and caring robot.   Is this the future for those of us who do not want the desitny of institutialisation.  

This is a  moving story,  Amy junir played well by the producers' daughter very well.


The
The animatronics of the robot and the facial expression and naturalness of the coice,  Here iis



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