Catch 22

Read it at 14 and loved it but, saw the film and hated it – so many years on found it hard to see how it could be staged – but Northern Stage pull it off with a production that truly captures the mood, the dark humour and the sense of despair. Philip Arditti as central figure Yassarian is excellent, disbelieving of the insanity of his situation and the chaos that masquerades as order around him. A finely tuned ensemble take on all the other roles and the whole is played out on a magnificent set. The only thing that lets it down is the inevitable length of the piece and that towards the end, what might have been intended to expose the rapidly increasing sense of despair actually feels like a mad rush to the finish. Even so this is an extraordinary achievement.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 13 May 2014

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