Ever since the retail behemoth Meadowhall appeared on the outskirts of Sheffield, dire warnings have been sounded about the fate of the Moor, the city’s central shopping district. Yet who would have foreseen that it would come to this – dead rats in dank corridors, young men in hooded tops lurking in the shadows, sinister experiments conducted in the back of what was formerly Woolworths?
Admittedly, these things have been put there by the northern branch of the site-specific specialists Theatre Delicatessen. As the company inhabits an old Woolworths, it follows that the performances should be a bit of a pick-and-mix selection, promising everything from a self-solvable puppet homicide to a makeover in a Munsters-style clinic with a waiting room full of surprisingly chatty disembodied heads.
Not all of the performances are strong enough to compete with the drama of the location. Who knew that behind the scenes of Britain’s former favourite retailer lay a Stasi-like warren of surveillance points and stark, tiled chambers?
Inevitably, there are a number of dark rooms, loud noises and actors prowling around with torches under their chins; surely as much a cliche of the theatre of our time as French windows and smoking jackets were to Noël Coward’s. But the best of the attractions have wit, poignancy and power: such as that of the circus performer Laura Murphy, whose aerial exploration of anxiety involves giving herself just enough rope, while Punkture’s creepy clinic and Frolicked’s interactive rat mystery have a redeeming sense of humour.
It’s not recommended for anyone averse to wearing a tail, or a surgical mask, or being shut in a cupboard – but if the sound of that appeals, you may want to go along and souk up the atmosphere.
• Until 22 November. Venue: 17 The Moor, Sheffield.
