‘A technically tight performance, LX, SND and VIDEO. All cues fired correctly…’

Back to a Susi Petherick photo of the #JusticeforLB quilt to see some detail of the intricate artwork involved in the making of it. Layers of working around individual patches to create something more than the sum of its patches (as brilliant as each one is). People tend to concentrate on patches when they look at it. The around stuff becomes less visible despite being central. The better the around stuff is done the less visible it becomes…

I mean, what about the colours, intricate joining stitches, shapes, tufts, busy and invisible beauty?

Laughing Boy has an extraordinary ‘around’ cast of brilliance in Holly Kahn, Matt Powell, Simon Higlett and Ben Ormerod. Music, video, set design and lighting.

Matt has come round a couple of times to talk about and collect files, links and the quilt. To show how the tech stuff is developing. Home movie clips of Connor as a tot have been beautifully folded into new footage of school children recording Louis Armstrong’s Wonderful World at a school in London. Headphones, concentration and wondrousness (possibly never seen before on a London stage).

The careful arrangement of photos of children, young people and adults who have died since Connor presented with meticulously selected fonts and sizes.

The intermezzo countdown of the 107 days campaign to mark the time Connor spent in the unit is an extraordinary blend of the colour, reach and content of that phenomenon, accompanied by Holly’s haunting and visceral composition.

I’m only just recognising the power of set production and lighting, thank you Simon and Ben for this.

Realise I’m kind of going full on theatre critic now which may be hilarious or horribly grating. No apologies either way or anywhere in the middle. It’s been a blast and privilege to follow the workings and working outs of this production and see the love, care and attention paid throughout.

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