Review: Carousel

Addressing himself and the audience simultaneously, it's a retrospective flick through the scrapbook of his memories captured in 10 photos and objects he'll never throw away. At its most superficially engaging, it's a nostalgic romp through the gigs and games that the committed music and football fan has delighted in. Sweetly woven through the narrative are the treasured times he's spent with his young daughter, supplemented by those he enjoyed with his parents, grandmother, siblings and best friends, the passing of some of these affording a bittersweet poignancy. Similarly, we get brief snapshots of the romances that have burned brightly but burned out, girls who've passed in and out of his existence, the never-to-be repeated experiences that make up a life, tinged with joy and regrets.

Compellingly delivered, with its own driving rhythm, Carousel's momentum intermittently shifts between what Graham's running to and what he's running from, only now and then pausing for him to take stock and publicly admonish or champion himself, though with a masochistic emphasis on the former.