Impossible At The Noel Coward Theatre: "A light-hearted but impressive spectacle"

Posted on 27 July 2016

When turning up to see Impossible last week, I didn’t quite know what to expect. But my friend and I were immediately swept up in the fun and exciting atmosphere of the occasion. 

Impossible, showing at the Noel Coward theatre this summer contains an eclectic mix of magical performers, from the charming BGT winner and card trickster Lance Corporal Richard Jones to illusionist come escapist Josephine Lee

Each performer set the scene for their show impressively, often accompanied by great props and stage changes. 

A personal favourite was Ben Hart, a magician and story-teller who wowed both the audience and his randomly picked subjects. A woman a few rows in front of us was teleported from one side of the stage to the other, which was such a shocking experience for her that her hair was practically standing on end when she returned to her seat and she had no idea what had happened or how.

Another astonishing performer was Chris Cox, a mind-reader whose talents left us with no doubt that he really could process the audience’s thoughts.

As naive optimists, my friend and I might have bought into the show more so than the more reluctant audience members, but it definitely felt as if the crowd as a whole left truly convinced of every performers magical skill. Of course I know that realistically the magic tricks are just that, tricks, but I have no idea how any of them worked, and it’s simpler for me to believe that it was just magic.

One criticism I would make is that due to the nature of the multiple performers, Impossible seemed to lack an overall message and occasionally as a spectator it was hard to judge where the show was going. Since each performance was a show in itself, this meant that every performance was very strong, but the show as a whole could be criticised for lacking cohesion. 

A great show to visit this summer if you want an to see a light-hearted but impressive spectacle.