Before we’re in the theatre the per­formers come to us. “Allo” they cry in their French accents “You are look­ing gor­geous tonight!” They sweep us before them into their seedy world. It’s part cab­aret, part shabby theatre, part soph­ist­ic­ated storytelling, part improv. It feels like a troupe of trav­el­ling act­ors has arrived in town and set up for a few nights only. The walls of the theatre are covered in dark fab­ric. There’s a little alcove for the on-form tech­ni­cian (Matt Eller) but he is mostly hid­den behind the row of audi­ence seats.

The title char­ac­ter is sim­il­arly hid­den in the shift­ing people who play him. Every one in the cast (Susie Berry, Andrew Pater­son, Maaka Pohatu, Jonothan Price, Com­frey Sanders) play him at some stage – per­son and voice. Even an audi­ence mem­ber is enticed into play­ing him. Audi­ence mem­bers are key to this pro­duc­tion. We are char­ac­ters – in the play and in the world of the play; we are stage hands help­ing with props; we are the props; we’re inter­val dan­cers. The cast are adept at inter­act­ing with the audi­ence and play­ing off what they are giv­en. They’re gentle with people who don’t want to be involved. Inter­spersed through the story of the wicked Don Juan are songs. They range through Kayne West  to Erykah Badu to Fiona Apple. All the cast have great voices. Susie Berry is a par­tic­u­lar stand out for me here.

This iter­a­tion of Don Juan feels like you’re being told the story of an out­rageous friend of a friend. Incred­ibly enter­tain­ing. Go with a group if you can because it will be more fun that way.

  • Don Juan on at Circa Theatre until 23 May 2015.