The Void – Review – Hull Truck Theatre
By Roger Crow, September 2025
As a hardcore lover of sci-fi thrillers set on spaceships, when offered the chance to review new play The Void, I don’t have to think too hard.
And for the most part, it’s well worth the trip to Hull – and back.
The plot: eight million miles from Earth, a mysterious distress call crackles through the ether and draws Flint, a haunted space ranger, towards the Odyssey – an ageing research vessel in the grip of a nightmare. Boarding the craft, he finds a failing ship, a missing crew, and a deadly force running out of control…
The set is terrific. A large portal with jagged beams dominates the centre, while a door off to the right is surrounded by the usual industrial ephemera. Smoke drifts lazily, and when the house lights go down, the set gains mass. Your brain fills in the blanks, like all good theatre sets do. And there are at least three standout visual gags to come. One is no doubt a brilliant homage to Alien, involving a hand; another is a free-floating stunt which is simple and yet brilliant, and the third is a squirm-inducing scene involving an eye which relies on the audience watching through latticed fingers.
“Emotional journey”
We open with a guy in a chair. Flint is wearing an eye patch, reminiscent of Snake Plissken in Escape from New York. What unfolds is a load of fragmented memories and confusion; banter with the AI computer, and some on-screen graphics, which may or may not be AI-generated. My guess is yes, which may be apt for the show, but as a fan of old school special effects from the Space: 1999 era, I’d have preferred model work. Each to their own. Anyway, our central protagonist is eventually joined by Blair (possibly more of a homage to a character in 1982’s The Thing than Lionel or Tony).
Throughout I’m reminded of Adrian Edmondson, as a Young One rather than his current work on Alien Earth. Both are solid performances, with Blair offering much-needed exposition.
As fragments from Flint’s past are revealed like layers peeled from an onion, we go on an emotional journey. And yet as impressive as the set is, and the visual gags, I don’t really care about either of the main characters, or the predicament. Because the run time is two hours including an interval, there’s only so much time to set up the characters, and as Flint is a stereotypical, generic hero, I’m a little indifferent to his plight. There is a great timeline glitch when we suffer a sense of déjà vu. That plot device is often used in films and TV thrillers, but live on stage feels rather fresh, and there’s a couple of good jump scares, one reminiscent of Event Horizon.
But I wanted to feel more immersed in both the set and the drama. Punters have to leave the theatre at half time as the set is re-dressed, but when we return it looks pretty much the same. However, a visual scene towards the end involving that main hatch is beautifully executed, with a mix of clever lighting and projection. And the space suit is also cool, not least because it adheres to the rule that all sci-fi helmets should light up on the inside.
“Ambitious”
Plotwise I’ve revealed little, because that’s for the viewer to decode. It’s a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, and when the finale comes, it will either thrill, annoy, or maybe both. I prefer the second act to the first, probably because the first act is all about world and character-building, and the second is just a chance to enjoy the ride.
With more money, it would have been great to see the set immerse part of the audience, but then again I have been spoiled with epic stage shows like Stranger Things and Back to the Future with multi-million dollar budgets rather than a drama like The Void, which was made for a fraction of the cost. It’s just the sort of show I’d loved to have worked on, and as this was the first night of the UK tour, I’m guessing any wrinkles will be ironed out in the coming weeks.
The script isn’t bad, though more levity would have added flesh to the bones of the generic hero. And full marks for effort. Creating an effective two-handed play, albeit with off-set additional characters, is a Herculean task, especially with all the additional effects and gags, and the team here do a fine job.
I wish the cast and crew all the luck in the world, because I’d love to see more stage shows this ambitious, especially as the subject matter is right up my street. And I’ll be very interested to see what the Yorkshire-based Thunder Road team do next.
For tour dates for The Void visit thunderroadtheatre.org
images: Marc Brenner
Adopted Yorkshireman Roger Crow developed a passion for film and TV in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been a published film and TV reviewer since the 1990s; a world travel and restaurant critic since the noughties, and for the past decade has assessed the pros and cons of live gigs and theatre productions around the UK. His ideal day would involve reviewing a performance of Bat Out of Hell, followed by a Pad Thai while being serenaded by Texas on a cruise around Europe.
crowsfeat.com
