If current trends continue, the number of people at high risk from flooding in Britain will more than double in the next 70 years.
Two years ago this month we had a taste of what may be to come when large areas of Yorkshire and Humberside, the Midlands and the south west suffered devastating floods, leaving thousands homeless. Six months later around 100 families were still living in caravans around Hull alone.
Look Left Look Right Theatre company has researched the impact of the 2007 floods by recording hours of interviews with those affected in various parts of the country.
The result is The Caravan, a Fringe First winner at Edinburgh and a show literally staged in a caravan, in which a cast of four recreates a small selection of the personal testimonies collected by the company.
Naturally room for the audience is strictly limited, and just eight people can experience each performance, during which Jaffa cakes are offered round. We meet people from Hull – which complained that it became the forgotten victim when the floods hit further south – plucky working class women from Doncaster and a nice Ikea-type couple from Oxfordshire, as well as a toff who calculates that £300,000-£400,000 was knocked off the value of his house in Tewkesbury.
For those of us for whom the news has long since moved on, it is a reminder of how prolonged the trauma has been for many people. It also reminds us that flooding is an ongoing issue, and not just because of global warming – one stray fact I hadn’t registered before is that the River Severn used to be dredged regularly until 1974.
It is a novel experience to be so close to actors that they can make eye contact or even underline a point with a friendly touch of the knee. It’s very well done and, apart from its more serious intent, it shares something of the delight of Creature Comforts in spotlighting the oddities of normal speech merely by faithfully reproducing them.
* Running time 45 minutes. Until Sunday: five performances per day, starting 6pm today, 5pm Sat, Sun: pre-booking on 024 7652 4524.
Rating: 4/5
