How To Be Immortal – Soho Theatre. **

This production interweaves the story of the daughter whose mother’s cancer cell revolutionised genetic research with a love story between a cellist and a squeezebox player who has terminal cancer. The part of historical account about the HeLe cells is interesting and told with eloquence with great use of music to lift the production. But otherwise, the characters are sketchy and emphasis feels like they are in the wrong place. The focus of the daughter reluctance to get involved is overused and the repeating of which shows the lack of character development. The other love story is too pedestrian and low key for it to mesh with the science properly. Clare Perkins is excellent as the daughter and various other roles and she is the highlight of the production. It is a pleasant enough show but it requires more rigorous direction and script editing to fulfil the potential of the setup.