The award-winning theatre company 1927 have already left their mark on previous Edinburgh International Festivals with their productions, Roots and The Magic Flute. Their latest show, Please Right Back, is another impeccable feather in their cap. Featuring some slick multimedia action and a rich, inviting style, 1927’s latest work is an entertaining and thoughtful look at how imagination takes the reins during periods of separation. 

The overwhelmingly black-and-white animated backdrops, complete with similarly greyscale costumes, make for a remarkably inviting theatrical world. It can swap from the abstract and adventurous to kitchen sink drama levels of pathos in the blink of an eye, allowing the wackiest and most sombre of scenes to co-exist with remarkable ease. The hand-drawn animation that take the place of physical sets, and plays as a constant background, is interacted with almost faultlessly.

More importantly, this animation allows the audience to see what’s happening through the eyes of Mr. E’s children as they attempt to piece together what has happened to him from his letters. Mr. E, and his children clearly love spy and adventure stories – there are references to Ian Fleming and John le Carré on their kitchen wall. It’s this adoration that allows their imagination to run away with them. It leads to a blending of fantasy and reality that only makes the eventual reveal all the more shocking. 

The whole cast does an exceptional job playing a range of different characters, particularly the close-knit family (one member of whom is completely animated). Credit should also go the the smarmy, entitled support worker who forces herself into the family’s affairs. It’s harder than it looks to make a character so enjoyably insufferable. 

Please Right Back is a powerful, emotional story about how imagination can fill the gaps created when a family is dismantled. It explores this idea with empathy and with an inventiveness that would escape many other shows of its ilk. 

Creative, moving, and often funny, Please Right Back is a unique theatrical experience that peels back the many complex layers of family life through its inventive narrative and format. Finding unity and strength in times of emotional toil is what family is all about, a fact that 1927 hit on the head with another dazzling production.