Brown study

Stage hypnotists need the trust of their audience, but also a whiff of danger. So Derren Brown calls his show Svengali, though he is not really an evil puppetmaster but a gentle, coaxing, mostly ethical puppetmaster. That show, which opened for its first run at the end of 2010, is back for a short time at the Novello theatre (until 11 August). It’s fun watching the audience drift through the doors and wondering who will end up on stage dancing naked or eating raw onions or whatnot. A thousand potential victims. There are quite a lot of children given that Derren can be a bit sweary on stage — but one of his special abilities is to deliver the f-word innocuously. He asks his audiences not to reveal anything, and perhaps he hypnotised us because I’m inclined to obey. The show revolves around a spooky yarn which is a conceit to let him toy with minds in his usual fashion.