Game of Souls by John Waterhouse
At The Dancehouse Theatre, Manchester
Reviewed by Simon Belt June 2015
Game of Souls started its life entitled 'Chess Pieces' which I saw at Salford Arts Theatre back in 2013 with its own troupe of dancers embedded for dramatic effect. This refined production was leaner and sharper than its earlier outing and shows that Arts Council funding doesn't always mean a pampering of productions that should otherwise fall by the wayside. John Waterhouse has made good use of the support he's received to take the play further and get a much better performance out of the script as a consequence. The tagline says it's a comedy with music, but it felt very much like a morality play about our own capacity to be autonomous and purposeful in the face of hidden manipulations by forces seemingly beyond our control.