Time Out 1997 'Best Devised Production in the Off-West End' 1997
(Quoted from Time Out Issue No. 1423; Nov 26 - Dec 3 1997)
"From left: Lee Simpson, Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch are old hands in the twilight zone of devised theatre, between them responsible for a whole host of zanily inventive and bizarrely accomplished shows in which run-of-the-mill items - sticky tape, coathangers, old newspapers - are magically transformed. Last year they joined forces to form Improbable Theatre - '70 Hill Lane', a spellbinding tale of Polty the poltergeist, was their very first show. Watch out for more improbable ingenuity when the trio's next gig - 'Life Game' - hits the Lyric Hammersmith and the Purcell Room next summer."
"He's come a long way since leaving '70 Hill Lane', but Phelim McDermott's childhood home (reconstructed with Sellotape at BAC in February) proved well worth revisiting. His recollections of Polty the poltergeist, the spook who lurked therein, were bound together by Improbable Theatre with conversational comedy and some startling stagecraft. McDermott is happy to show off its joins: padding Puckishly in and out of a sticky-tape-and-newspaper house re-assembling around him, spinning tall tales of infant foreboding, he found for his informal, improvisatory style its most consummate expression yet. '70 Hill Lane' wins our award for the Best Devised Production in the Off-West End."
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