How to be Immortal review, Jackson's Lane and UK Tour

Self examination is always a pleasure. In How to be Immortal we look at humans as living and breathing individuals, and as biological constructs. Each of us is unique, but we reduce to  four recurring letters on a print out - ACGT - that represent our genome. ACGT: amino acids which join to produce 3D proteins, and proliferate to create life. And, for many, to hasten death.

It's essentially cancer that's under the microscope and the story that dominates How to be Immortal is the extraordinary tumour of a poor, black, Virginian housewife, Henrietta Lacks. Lacks died in 1951, but the cells taken from her vigorous, incurable, carcinoma, continue to replicate. They are literally immortal, a facility unique to Lacks. Each batch of HeLa cells, as they are known, replicates every 24 hours. Henrietta's full DNA code is in each of them. This amazing story is beautifully brought to life in this 90 minute piece.

We also have a wonderful comic turn as Dr George Gey, who propagated the cells, reveals their potential value: the HeLa cells have since underpinned all cancer research, and were used to find the Polio vaccine, as well as to test interventions in Herpes and parvo virus.  A third true narrative,  both charming and sad, is that of the cellist, Rosa, who has fallen in love with her decorator, Mick. She's pregnant, he's about to die...

In conclusion: The science is terrific, as are the performers: Anna-Helena McLean, John McKeever and Clare Perkins. There are some fine musical interludes and it's a good watch. The context of the two subsidiary narratives, however, is sketchy. Gey's storyline feels gratuitous, and the significance of Mick's death and his contribution to medical research is unclear.

References:
How to be Immortal tours the country visiting theatres from The Isle of Wight to Shrewsbury, from Cambridge to Kendal, Harrogate and Abergavenny. Four nights, too, at Soho Theatre. Tour ends 20 March.
Tickets for Liverpool, Newcastle, Whitehaven, Scarborough and Pontardawe