Stage: Rewrite the stars

Derren Brown: Showman
by Derren Brown, Andy Nyman, Andrew O'Connor
dir Andrew O'Connor, Andy Nyman
sets & costumes Simon Higlett
lighting Charlie Morgan Jones
Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Ave, London • 9.Dec.22-19.Mar.23

Following a 155-date national tour, Derren Brown's latest show lands in the West End for an extended run. As with all of his stage productions, this one is about far more than mentalism and magic, both of which are of course outrageously entertaining. "The heart of the show is about remembering what's important," Brown says. "Particularly how the very things that we find most isolating in life - our fears and difficulties - actually connect us, in that they're the very things we share. Framed, of course, with some extraordinary demonstrations of my particular voodoo."

Brown's approach, even when he echoes other shows we may have seen, feels unusually fresh. He mixes dazzling trickery, audience participation and deep emotions into this performance using a striking mix of sound, lighting, projection, dialog and movement. The combination is often mesmerising, as indeed Brown repeatedly hypnotises random audience members who are brought onto the stage, injecting witty humour while neither making fun of anyone nor pushing people out of their comfort zones. He also of course plays with the brains of those who remain in their seats, including the heart-stopping theft of about 10 seconds.

Whether this is illusion or mind-control, and while it clearly has to be much more carefully planned out than it seems to be, the result is often staggering in the way it involves our feelings, tapping into our personal memories to explore the things that are most important to us, while also reminding us of the things that should be most important. So each seemingly impossible reveal manages to show us something about ourselves.

In his trademark style, Brown keeps the bigger themes running with echoing words, lights and images, subliminal suggestions and comments that feel unusually intimate. So while we're continually stunned by his seemingly supernatural ability to observe the tiniest detail, we're repeatedly reminded not to be sidetracked by things that aren't important, to refuse to live by other people's expectations and, most importantly, to be kind.

For information, visit DERREN BROWN >

photos by Mark Douet • 15.Dec.22