Set among the stars, Cheryl Martin invites the audience into her life through her autobiographical tales and soulful jazz. Focused around the question of why some stars shine brighter than others, she spends the duration of the performance asking this question and narrating her thoughts.
Cheryl herself is captivating in the way she completely engages the audience in her stories of heart-break, scientific queries and personal passions. She has an incredibly approachable vibe about her, and as an audience member you genuinely feel part of the performance.
Described as a ‘jazz fantasy’, Cheryl stands solo on a stage scattered with disco balls that catch the light every so often to create dazzling patterns and striking beams of light. Cheryl combines her multitude of questions about astronomy, adoration for astrology, personal struggle and music from female jazz singers that have died, to create 75 minutes of analysis on the world we live in.
Cheryl speaks with a natural tone and sings with soul, her words are poetic and everything she says is both intelligent and thought-provoking. Although she delves deeply into the darkness in her life, and asks some astounding questions about the universe, the whole piece is delivered so casually that you feel completely comfortable. It wasn’t until I’d left the theatre that my mind started ticking through everything she had said, and it all began to resonate with me.
It’s a show full of imagery and stories that are both emotive and humorous. We are introduced to the family members that shaped Cheryl’s life, as she brings to life each relationship through her excellently crafted monologue. Cheryl’s direction towards the audience is so warm, and this is heightened when she shares a cocktail with the audience, and even directly converses with them throughout her performance.
Who Wants To Live Forever is clever, insightful, powerful and entirely brilliant.
On at HOME Mcr’s Push Festival, tickets can be found here.
