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.