Melody Loses Her Mojo

Contact Theatre, Manchester/Touring

5 Stars

Based in Toxteth, Liverpool 8, the 20 Stories High theatre company is rapidly gaining a well-deserved reputation for innovative and exciting theatre.

Their latest production Melody Loses Her Mojo, written and directed by Keith Saha, fuses hip hop theatre, dance puppetry and street art in a powerful and emotionally charged story of loss and loneliness among young people on the fringes of society.

It tells the story of Melody, shunted through the care system for most of her young life, who's determined to beat the system in order to be reunited with her baby sister Harmony.

Her world is torn apart when she learns of the imminent adoption of Harmony by the child's foster parents and she determines to take the law into her own hands.

She's accompanied by Blessing, a Nigerian girl sold into domestic slavery and Rizla, a crap drugs dealer and another casualty of the care regime.

What follows is an angry and challenging play, beautifully directed by Saha, which sympathetically gives a voice to young people who have been forgotten and marginalised by a society that's quick to look the other way.

There is fantastic use of live music with the astonishing national beatbox champ Hobbit, accompanied by the talented cellist Hannah Marshall, creating a mesmerising soundscape with voice and electronic wizardry.

Remmie Milner is excellent as the vulnerable, angst-ridden Melody. She is utterly believable as she switches from tough worldly-wise smart arse to vulnerable child abandoned by an uncaring world.

Her emotional journey is truly heart-breaking and she gets great support from Darren Kuppan as Rizla and Simone James as Blessing.

The clever use of puppetry provides a real sense of escapism, with the puppet Mojo allowing Melody to hang onto the spirit of her young sister and, as the threat to their relationship grows, morphs into a monster hell-bent on Melody's destruction.

But it is the puppet Harmony that almost steals the show with a beguiling and heartrending performance. This is incredible work from puppeteers Samuel Dutton and Zoe Hunter.

This is bold, gritty and thought-provoking theatre which bodes well for the future of performing arts in this country.

The Tories may slash arts budgets but, as Melody Loses Her Mojo shows, young people are fighting back.

Runs at The Curve, Leicester, until October 12. Box office: (0116) 242-3560.