THE ABSOLUT FRINGE 2011 has over 100 shows playing out across Dublin until 25 September. Each day, TheJournal.ie will bring you our readers’ reviews of the pick of the crop and everything in between. You’ll get the chance to get in on the act yourself with our daily reader review tickets giveaway!
Today’s review:
(Ranters Theatre, 6.15pm today at Projects Art Centre)
Shane Noone’s review: The play is introduced to us as a collection of random conversations that took place one night when a man, our “interviewer”, decided to leave his apartment and talk solely to strangers he met on the street.
It uses a mix of video, pictures, music and some fine fine acting to both tell its story and entertain. The very first scene sets the tone and also the bar, very very high. The acting is outstanding! It feels like anything but a regurgitation of a rehearsed play. The dynamic and chemistry between the protaganists of the opening scene seemed so real it felt like you were in the room as this happened for the first time. You could feel the tension and discomfort and you may even find yourself cringing at some of the more awkward polite agreements, silences and forced half-smiles.
Our “interviewer” does an excellent job throughout as a man both patient and adept at dealing with the oddities he meets and the bizarre turns many of their stories take.
The play works on several levels. It can simply show the dynamics of talking to strangers. It speaks about how well we really know the people around us, the different faces we all have, the issues we most likely aren’t aware that those around us have – like the chef with sleep and psychological problems or an airline pilot that suffers from debilitating panic attacks.
However this play can most definitely be enjoyed as simple entertainment. One of the weirder points in the play is broken excellently by a routine very reminiscent of a scene from the movie Old School, but there are other moments of dance, music and humour scattered throughout. Also, the play finishes nicely with a positive self help note for the audience.
In three words? Interesting. Entertaining. Multimedia.
