The Mould that Changed the World continues at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall until 25 August 2018.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
The threat of antibiotic resistance is a somewhat surprising topic for a musical, but The Mould That Changed the World finds a way to make itself personally accessible. Produced by Charades Musicals, it was developed by the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.
This year marks 90 years since Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. The Mould That Changed the World is being performed at Surgeons Hall and the ensemble includes a chorus of actual healthcare professionals.
The story begins at a UN conference where the President of the U.N General Assembly, a role impressively sung by Sarah Barron, describes the current situation of antibiotic resistance, before we travel back to the trenches of the First World War and meet a chorus of injured soldiers and then Fleming himself played by Benjamin Froelich.
The spread of germs is embodied by Sheila Grant and Sarah Wilkie as the Strep Sisters in writhing grey leotards.
The show also benefits from a live band on stage – Neil Metcalfe (piano), Jess Conway (violin), the work’s writer and composer Robin Hiley (guitar), May Halyburton (double bass) and Chris Rawson (percussion).
This is a tough subject to address – and an important one. This show has a message we need to hear about our expectations of what antibiotics can – and cannot – do in our modern world. This is unquestionably a well-crafted show, and works very well in the tight constrictions of its venue thanks to stylishly efficient direction by Thomas Henderson, but I would have liked more sympathetic characters to present this macro problem in a more micro form.
Clare Walters
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