The Caravan

This intimate performance for an audience of around eight takes place in a caravan parked in the Pleasance. It is based on verbatim accounts by people from different walks of life affected by last year’s UK floods, documenting their experiences with tenderness and sensitivity. Four actors play all the parts, exiting and entering the caravan, turning the page on a calendar to let us know who is speaking.

As we sit close to them and each other, we hear their accounts of the pressures of living in such a tiny space, the incompetence of local authorities, the feeling of being forgotten by government. They boil the kettle, give us biscuits or show us photographs of their flooded homes. Couples talk to each other reassuringly, the actors addressing us directly and making eye contact throughout.

Listening to these accounts is an odd sensation – audience members nod in agreement as the speakers highlight fund mismanagement or the impact on their families and jobs of living in such cramped conditions.

The performances are beautifully understated, subtly capturing the humour and personalities of the different speakers. Look Left Look Right create a documentary piece that draws you into people’s lives, showing their dignity and resilience with great respect and skill.