THEATRE REVIEW: Together In Electric Dreams - Seven Oaks, Manchester

 

In this one act play by Daniel Thackeray, we are witness to an imagined meeting / conversation of a real event - albeit not in a Japanese restaurant! - when Sir Clive Sinclair (notable technology inventor) sold his flailing company to a young hard-nosed businessman, (the then unknighted) Alan Sugar. 

What ensues is a conversation, nay a battle, of wits, between the more idealistic and perhaps humane Sinclair, and the "in this for profit" ruthlessness of businessman Sugar. In the first half of this 70 minute production, it does come out as quite information and tech-spec heavy, as we hear about the Sinclair products which have both made and broken his name [everything from his first calculator, through to the now lauded ZX Spectrum, and his risible vehicular invention, the C5.] This, as well as the fact that they are seated at a table in a restaurant does make for a rather static production, and it is only when they start to leave towards the end that the dynamics and levels (both actual and discernible) start to change.

There is a large screen to one side which presents archive adverts of the Sinclair products which was interesting, and this screen then was utilised to good effect a couple of times within the body of the play; it did however pull focus sometimes since the "screensaver" was a bright blue and gaudy yellow flower rather than having a simple blank screen.

Daniel Thackeray portrayed Clive Sinclair, and Steve Cain was the more brusque Alan Sugar. It is never easy to portray real people (actors are much more at home usually in the realms of fantasy), but both Thackeray and Cain had found representations of their more famous alter egos which not only worked for them in this situation, but were surprisingly realistic, especially Cain's vocalisations. They sparked off each other nicely one being the yin to the other's yang, making it a rather believable exchange of minds, ethics and respect.

I was uncertain the asides of Sinclair truly worked as well as they could have done, and as a more subjective preference was not sure about breaking the fourth wall and interacting with the audience either. Perhaps too the briefcases should have been full, and a more contemporary £5 note be used; however all-in-all, this was a conversation worth listening to, and we enjoyed the power-play between these two wily characters. 

And with (almost predictably perhaps) a karaoke version of the 1980's hit of the play's title to bring the play to a close, we left the auditorium a little more knowledgeable than before, having learnt about a pivotal moment in the rise of computer electronics in the country. Produced by Gareth Kavanagh and directed by Ross Kelly for Scythe Plays Ltd, the company are now half-way through a small tour.

Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 5.8.25