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Regional secretary with the National Education Union
The tears of a clone
SIMON PARSONS applauds a moving version of Ishiguro’s vision of a world in which science and ethics have diverged
PINKIE PROMISE: Nell Barlow and Amelie Abbott in Never Let Me Go [Hugo Glendinning]

Never Let Me Go
Bristol Old Vic

SUZANNE HEATHCOTE’S stage adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s highly acclaimed 2005 novel is an assured and theatrically satisfying production.

The dystopian elements of an alternative England that has embraced human cloning are merely the framework on which to hang an elegiac story of friendship and innocent childhood memories recalled from the perspective of an adult world of sacrifice. 

Nell Barlow’s effectively restrained and intelligent performance as the narrator Kathy provides a poignant yet non-judgmental commentary on her seemingly idyllic, rural boarding school days as she tries to come to terms with the fate destined for her and her classmates who were once made to feel so special.

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