Little Lark of London

⭐⭐⭐

“Everyone you meet is performing a magic trick”

From the very beginning of the show, Unbelievable makes it clear that audience participation is going to play a major role. One cast member, Yolando Ovide, wandered around the auditorium, asking people for their wedding rings for a trick later on in the show. A screen on the stage invited audience members to go onstage and write down the names of their favourite drinks. 

The set reminds me of David Byrne’s American Utopia, with chain links hanging from the ceilings, blocking most of the stage from view. Cast members came onto the stage to perform a musical number, vamping for time as Ovide finished her quest for wedding rings. The costumes are also David Byrne-esque grey suits. Simon Lipkin stars as the only previously-trained magician in the cast, taking the helm for most of the segments, including a highlight that included singing and some audience participation. 

In the beginning, Lipkin introduces us to the world of Unbelievable by explaining how everyone has both an “inner” and an “outer” part of themselves, just like how magicians have their tricks and the methods behind them. I was looking forward to seeing into the inner workings of magicians and their tricks, being a strong sceptic myself. 

The majority of the cast members both perform as magicians and as musicians, showing off their skills throughout. Laura Andresen Guimarães, Izalni Batista Nascimento Junior, Alexander Bean, and Hannah Price steal the show with their musicianship, but they are only given a few chances to shine in that way. There was only one segment that really tied both magic and music together and I would have loved to see more. 

I won’t go into any details on most acts as they are best experienced without any prior knowledge, but I will go into my reactions to them. For the majority of the magic tricks, even though they were, pun fully intended, “unbelievable,” they were simply existing to impress with no connection to the concepts introduced in the beginning. One particularly annoying segment in the show was one that was seemingly made to sell a “Rainbow Box” that was offered at the interval. Samuel Creasy certainly makes the segment a fun one with his comedic timing but it is not enough to distract from the capitalism behind the trick.

The final segment was a particularly frustrating one that focused on Lord Henry Davenport, who, upon doing research, was apparently a member of the Davenport Brothers, an American group whose fraudulent tricks were revealed by several others over the years. It was strange to hear Davenport be discussed and for the word of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a man known for his tendency to believe unreal things like fairies, to be praised. The act was certainly impressive, but it was mostly frustrating, failing to convince me of the magic behind it.

Ultimately, Unbelievable has an interesting concept and its cast members are certainly talented, but it fails to live up to its potential of revealing the secrets behind the magic that were promised in the beginning. I would have loved for there to have been more music throughout, allowing the brilliant musicians to show off more than the magic skills they have gained.

Unbelievable runs at the Criterion Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.

Derren Brown does not appear in Unbelievable.

Photo Credit: Marc Brenner