Eternal flame

English Touring Theatre once again deliver a delightful entertainment that manages to balance thought-provoking drama with fun. Their simple staging allows the cast and the script to shine and in this dramatisation of the story of Abelard and Heloise it does just that. Playing with our minds by peppering the history with contemporary ideas and values works beautifully, setting the audience’s minds to work whilst at the same time making them laugh – and laugh they do. In contrast to the simplicity of the set the costumes are lavish, the hypocrisy of the bishops emphasised by lavish gold brocade cloaks and mitres, richness of the ephemeral not matched by richness of thought.

David Sturzaker makes a fine Abelard, charismatic and sexy as he applies the concepts of logic to the immovable doctrine of the church.

Jo Herbert is a feisty and sexually driven Heloise, dispelling any wishy washy notion that this is a pretty love story. Far from it, this is a story of sex and female oppression, of religious power and control and of a world awakening to freedom of thought. If it sounds heavy then ETT lighten it with their extraordinary ability to deliver period drama with a deft and modern touch.

Eternal Heart, Theatre Royal Brighton, 1 April 2014

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Andrew Kay