We Started To Sing (London)

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About the Show

The Arcola Theatre reopens its doors with an intergenerational family drama by Barney Morris.

A personal play about family, bravery and the passage of time.

Set across England and Wales, 'We Started to Sing' follows one family over three decades and how they have grown apart over time.

Written and directed by playwright Barney Norris. Norris' previous productions at the Arcola Theatre include 'Visitors' and 'Eventide'.

Critic Reviews (5)

We Started To Sing feels like the work of a playwright wrestling to understand his place in the world and the family that formed him. It’s intriguing and exhausting at the same time.
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Its pace is meditative but undramatic despite instances that seem almost to veer towards an alternate reality ... but nothing comes of it. There are many beautiful qualities to this production, nevertheless.
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An unabashedly backward-looking play about how you can’t go back. [This is] a tender, intelligent, not quite fully realised family drama.
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It may prove a bit of a slog. Soans does deliver a riveting monologue. Despite some tartly accurate observations of family dynamics, less than two hours stage time have seldom felt so long. Disappointing.
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We Started to Sing is steeped in nostalgia. The highlight of the show is the nuanced performances by Barbara Flynn and Robin Soans as Peggy and Bert. Undeniably warm-hearted, it’s also a bit too cosy and sentimental, bordering on trite at times.
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Cast and creative team