I Heart Michael Ball

Alexander Millington’s one hour drama is a gem, but not the kind of gem that is easy to write about without totally ruining the experience. But this is an experience surely not to be missed.

Alex is a fan, a super fan and the object of his admiration is west end star Michael Ball. It’s an adulation that starts when he is an eight year old boy and stays with him to adulthood. It’s an obsession that dominates his every living moment and one that he wants to share with the audience. That passion is infectious, one that he makes us believe is real by treating the audience like we are all fans too. The gentleness in his eyes, his probing, invasive gaze as he engages with each one of us… well it is utterly compelling. And he questions us all, are we fans? When did we first experience the “magic” that is Ball? And if the answer is in the negative he admonishes us. It’s clever stuff, this gentle giant of a man has us in his thrall and we go along with the conceit…

…I will say no more except that Millington has created an hilarious character on the surface but below that veneer something lurks. Once again this is the kind of theatre that one hopes to see in a Fringe Festival, innovative, beautifully crafted and superbly performed. Alexander Millington is exceptional, even dealing with a terrible audience member who, seizing upon the format of audience participation, high jacks a moment to plug her own show later that day. Well that didn’t work madam and I suspect none of us went to see you playing the queen – how rude!

This runs until Saturday 3rd June and deserves your full attention.

Andrew Kay

I Heart Michael Ball

Lantern Theatre

31 May

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