I like going to the theatre knowing almost nothing about what I'm going to see. I like not reading reviews in advance. I choose what I see by theatre company or director or on a whim. I see a lot of disappointments and I see the occasional performance that changes everything.

This evening I went to see The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk by Knee High Theatre, directed by Emma Rice. Within moments I was watching Chagall pictures come to life. The colour and floatiness were unmistakable. This clip shows a little of it but not the quite extraordinary emotion that transfixed the audience: the young love between Marc Chagall and his wife Bella, the hurt when their first child was born and he was more interested in his painting, their fear and resilience when they found themselves trapped in anti-Semitic Russia.

This is what theatre is for.

Blipmeet in Oxford. Saturday 2 June