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Cambridge Footlights 2003 -
Non-Sexual Kissing
Verdict: Our house, our street
Edinburgh - Pleasance Dome - August 03
Non-Sexual Kissing is the story of an apartment block, and its unusual inhabitants. It's a cunning device to stitch (invisibly) a mass of smart sketches into a narrative, acted with charm and grace, and written with sharp and affectionate insight.
Strands of narrative are trailed at the outset. Some provide local colour and fade away, like the sub-plots of a novel, some develop into complete stories. There's elegant script and directorial control over the whole, that make it an entity with - in its own way - a start, middle and end.
A man's deserted by his female companion for a neighbour across the hallway. It's both funny and tragic - carefully written comedy with a hint of menace.
Woody's coming home. We meet his girlfriend and appalling male friends, rehearsing his welcome party - like Godot, he's slow to arrive. But we do meet him - he's unexpected (to us), and surprising.
Elderly, insanitary, Mr Hedges is visited by a selection of neighbours. His story proves vital to the plot, but each encounter is revelatory about the visitor, and the different ways we as a society view the passing of years. The writing and acting of this strand of the story is of the highest order, and extraordinarily perceptive, full of humanity and humour - and affectingly tender.
A video-screen backdrop is used to provide continuity. Often, video on stage is not particularly effective, but the film-work here (by Debs Paterson, with Jack Bonnet, Douglas Andrews) is extremely well-shot (in content, framing, lighting and focus) and edited. It has evidently been considered from inception, and careful planning shows in the result. It serves both to locate the action, to add characteristation (of, for example, elderly Mr Hedges at No 64), and as backdrops (the lift sequences, rain-filled puddles). Unusually for on-stage film (often distracting and over-clever), it's very well-used dramatically - advancing the action and enhancing the skilful work of the cast.
Actors Tom Basden, Jot Davies, Stefan Golaszewski, Emily Howes, Lloyd Thomas are each individually gifted with excellence in performance. It's subtly understated stuff, no trace of over-acting (which would be easy in those sketches that use farce). Together they're a well-integrated ensemble, able to exploit the dark as well as the light in the script. They're able to be playful, too - parts of the delightful writing (by Tom Basden, Jot Davies, Stefan Golaszewski, Emily Howes, Tim Key, Lloyd Thomas, Mark Watson) encourage this.
To make a production of this technical complexity look easy takes hard and gifted work from the designer (Howard Lloyd), set constructor (Eddy Langley), and technical crew (Daniel Lewis, Eddy Langley, Martin Ball). To deliver it 60-odd times to a couple of dozen venues across the country requires tour managers (Fiona Paterson, Notzarina Reevers) of almost saintly virtue.
Non-Sexual Kissing benefits from extremely tight direction from Tim Key and Mark Watson. Their clear understanding of what's happening in the script, and how to present it in the most exciting way, produces an evening of theatrical delight.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Tom Basden, Jot Davies, Stefan Golaszewski, Emily Howes, Lloyd Thomas.
Company Credits (programme order): Writers - Tom Basden, Jot Davies, Stefan Golaszewski, Emily Howes, Tim Key, Lloyd Thomas, Mark Watson. Directors - Tim Key, Mark Watson. Assistant Director - Stefan Golaszewski. Designer - Howard Lloyd. Tour Managers - Fiona Paterson, Notzarina Reevers. Technical Director Edinburgh - Daniel Lewis. Technical Director Cambridge, and Set Construction - Eddy Langley. Technical Director, Tour - Martin Ball. Publicity Design and Photography - Pete Le May. Video - Debs Paterson, with Jack Bonnet, Douglas Andrews. Website Design - Ben Riches.
Acknowledgements (programme order): ADC Theatre (Rebecca, Andy, Allie). The Pleasance (Ollie, Sophie, and all staff). CUSU. Footlights Committee. ARG (Amanda Scott and all). Daniel Morgenstern. James Bachman. James Windeler. Red Flag Press. John Good Holbrook. Lisa Smyth. Nathan Palmer. Vicky Stone. John Fuller. Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge (Chris, Dan, Ed, Jo and all staff). Barbara Legge. Gareth Davies. Ceri Davies. Rick Adams. Caroline Horton. Dan Stevens. Joseph, Billy, Roger, all helpers, suppliers and technical advisers.
END
John Park
reviewed Monday 25 August 03 / Edinburgh / Pleasance Dome One
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2010
