See it if you appreciate a great ranconteur like Daniel Kitson whose shows are always intelligent, engaging, unique and fun with interesting twists.
Don't see it if you have a short attention span or can't be quiet and attentive without your phone.
See it if you enjoy intelligent, clever, humorous storytelling. Daniel Kitson is a master of his craft.
Don't see it if you do not like one-person shows. But this is clever enough to be a two-person show. Read more
See it if You Liked his previous works, this is even better.
Don't see it if Monologues with a very British touch are not your cup of tea
See it if You love the magic that a gifted actor can spin on stage. You can follow a spun story line and don't need a traditional narrative.
Don't see it if You like traditional, 3-act shows. You don't like a one-man band.
See it if you're a fan of Kitson (or want to be), masterful storytelling, coincidences, unexpected emotionalism, loveliness, excellent comic touches.
Don't see it if you have a short attention span, difficulty with flashing lights, or enough trouble hearing that a British accent will be frustrating.
See it if You want to see one of the best (if not THE best) monologists working today.
Don't see it if You do not have patience for intellectual, circumlocutory, protracted monologues on the meaning of life and love.
See it if you are a fan of Kitson's work or of the storytelling genre, of which this is one of the best examples.
Don't see it if you have little patience for solo shows.
See it if You want to be drawn into level upon level of a writer's conversation with a mysterious stranger. I'm still thinking about it.
Don't see it if You don't enjoy solo performances.
"If there’s one lesson to be derived from 'Mouse,' it’s that you should always be suspicious of the connections you wishfully intuit with people you talk to. On the other hand, if you’re too wary in assessing what others have to say, then you’ll wind up missing out on many of the more pleasurable entertainments life has to offer, like this very show...Mr. Kitson has an uncommon gift for sustaining not only different and seemingly divergent story lines but also different sensibilities."
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"The most endearing sections are when he speaks directly to us…At times, and in comparison to these outrageously charming moments, the scripted sections can feel slightly too artificial, and we do see narrative developments coming a mile away. But that's all part of the aesthetic. Kitson likes a certain sense of the inevitable...Once you grasp a Kitson conceit, you should just sit back and watch it unwind like a reel-to-reel tape."
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"Kitson is a defiantly compelling performer...One of the great pleasures of a Kitson show is the contrast between the sweetness at the heart of many of his stories and the rather more acerbic quality of his audience interactions...Those who have seen Kitson’s work before will find the tone familiar and several of the twists extremely guessable. Still, there’s a beautifully shambolic quality to much of the show and the extemporaneous moments make the piece feel excitingly unpredictable."
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"Though the script takes some predictable turns, Kitson’s performance is consistently delightful...Only occasionally does this set of deftly interlaced shaggy-dog stories start to feel a bit too shaggy. Some more compression would help streamline things, to avoid the feeling of an overly drawn-out conclusion, but 'Mouse' still manages to capture the audience’s imagination in a sticky, sweet, entertaining trap of a play."
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"Unsurprisingly for a show set in a steel container, 'Mouse' can feel claustrophobic, and couldn’t be accused of getting quickly to its point. But as ever, it’s easy to submit to Kitson’s playfully showy writing and his spirit of romantic melancholy that steers for the heart of what being alive is all about…The occasional clunkiness is forgivable in a show this humane and open-hearted."
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"Kitson's dialogue combines gorgeous turns of phrase, daft comedy riffs, and more profound digs into human psyche...Kitson has won a huge following for tucking a comedian's laugh-rate inside moving stories of human frailty, served through some fiendish technical conceit or formal invention. 'Mouse' delivers on all three, a well-sprung trap of a show that draws you in and snaps shut in a hugely satisfying fashion."
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"What is refreshingly enjoyable here is the way the story evolves. The chat is like a chess game, each man making a move to outwit the other. Even if you guess the end the reveal is neatly executed. ‘Mouse’ may leave some cold, but despite an undertow of melancholy it finds the writer in accessible comic form, reflecting in an aside on losing friends to 'marriage, parenthood or the east Midlands.' Even if this is not Kitson at full throttle there is much here that will stay in the memory."
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"This could become just another self-absorbed piece about the life of the artist...As ever, though, in Kitson’s hands, the language takes flight, and the detail of contemporary life that forms the backdrop to this strange incident glows with a strange, affectionate vividness, offering us a journey through loss, coincidence, and the tiny decisions that shape our lives, that haunts the mind, and confirms Kitson’s status as a master storyteller at the height of his powers."
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