Review: You Are Being Watched, Static Gallery

It was fun to catch a performance of You Are Being Watched this afternoon, a new comedy performance from Young Everyman and Playhouse. The play began in the Static Gallery before taking the entire audience down to Liverpool One for a very public finale. Devised by the company’s Young Actors, the show made the best of everything at its disposal. Some entertaining performances, good use of effects and sound, and an imaginative premise made it easy to enjoy. Plot was barely the point of You Are Being Watched, which unfurled with a simple yet enjoyable set up. Our hero James Bond had to stop evil Dr Cornetto from killing everyone in the world by… something to do with CCTV (because we’re all being watched)… I’m not sure if I missed something or if it didn’t matter much anyway. After some fun scenes in Static inspired by many a spy movie cliché, such as scientists trying out new gadgets, car chases and the ol’ poisoned drink switcheroo, we were told of our mission. Members of the audience had to follow ‘agents’, dressed in beige macs, trilbies and Groucho Marx glasses/ moustache combos. The agents appeared on the approach to Liverpool One and followed the audience to the lower level of the shopping centre. Crowds gathered as Dr Cornetto and her sidekick began to watch shoppers passing by, describing them over a tannoy in a bid to grab their attention. The agents eventually gathered together and after a short chase scene in the middle of the complex, James Bond won the day. You Are Being Watched was a fresh and fun idea, performed with gusto by a company clearly proud of what they had created. And that, ultimately, was the thing to take away from it.  There’s a sense of real passion and drive coming from YEP at the moment, and it will be worth keeping an eye on the rest of their season over the coming weeks.