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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Reviews |
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In on it
- Scottish Premiere Part of the Six Stages Festival A jacket lies on stage in a pool of light, an empty symbol waiting to be filled with meaning. A man walks on and starts talking. A monologue about the things in life that are planned and those that just happen (a monologue that like the jacket gains in meaning as the play progresses). Once into his stride he is interrupted by the other actor who asks if this is the best way to start. And so they move into the play proper, but always asking us to reflect and question the action and its meaning, giving our imaginations the freedom and responsibility for interpretation and creation of resonance The show weaves together three stories; the sad story of a man who is dying of a terminal disease surrounded by the break-up of his marriage and family; the poignant tale of two gay men trying to make their relationship work, and the post-modern touch of two actors discussing how best to act out this play. Each story adds resonance to the others and a delicate balance is found between cutting to the crux of the issue and sketching out the worlds in which the stories take place. The actors slip in and out of role with such effortless skill, not only creating beautifully drawn and rounded characters, even in the shortest of scenes, but even swapping roles to display different aspects or interpretations to the characters. All is done with such simplicity, an actor walks into a square of light and with a slight change of inflection, a little gesture and immediately we are hooked into the scene. And despite the obvious faults of the characters they are all played with such humanity as to make us see them for the human beings they are, struggling to make the most of their life The show is beautifully written (by actor and director Daniel MacIvor)
and staged in elegant simplicity relying on rigorous technique and the
inarguable skill of the two performers to make this show a poignant and
engaging drama. In a theatrical climate that so often relies on gimmick
or overload to make its point this is a timely reminder of the power of
actors in control of their discipline and armed with a good script.
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