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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Sweetness Follows
Verdict: Relationship drama
Edinburgh 04 - Underbelly - 11:00 am (12:00)
Sweetness Follows is drama about fractured relationships. It lasts an hour, in one act, with 6 actors (3F 3M).
Alcoholic Alan (Rob Phillips) monologues about the revelation he's experienced watching his fat wife Sylvia pissing. He's fantasising about a 16 year-old shopworker who's skinny: 'Natalie's rib-cage is an extension of her chest - staccato'. After unexpected sex with Sylvia one afternoon, he 'poked her podgy stomach'; to him she's like 'Turkish delight'
Skinny Violet (Hannah Harris) aggravates husband George (Dan Lewis) while he tries to write a book. She's bored, whiny, and aggravating.
Middle-aged housewife Julia (Helen MacFarlane) dusts the furniture and monologues about her family life. There's dead son George, gay son Tony. Her unseen husband Denis is a mate of alcoholic Alan, and Julia once nearly left Denis - even had her suitcase packed.
Skinny Violet (Hannah Harris) comes on (in more ways than one) in slinky silk cocktail dress. There are weight issues. George (Dan Lewis) continues to try to write.
Laurie (Ann Marie Piazza) and Charlie (Nick Bisson) meet in black at their dead mother Claire's house after her funeral. Charlie's never quite forgiven Laurie for leaving home and leaving him alone with mum. Laurie blames Charlie for dumping mum on a nurse. But Charlie reckons he was there with mum at the end.
But hang on, what was dying mum waving in her hand? And who of the above is Laurie bonking?
Sweetness Follows is a series of dramatic sketches about corrosion of relationships, with a light linking thread. There is probably an overall story, but the play can be enjoyed as a set of fragments.
As with any piece of new writing, it could benefit from a ruthless trim. But the general quality of the writing is superb. There is very little cliché. The language is vivid and atmospheric, and often fresh. This first play from new writer Bailey Locke shows the sparkle of her fine talent.
There's a particularly good performance from Rob Phillips, handling the tricky opening monologue with considerable and subtle panache. Ann Marie Piazza delights as Laurie, evoking both the surface of the part and, with subtle nuance, the character's darker side.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Nick Bisson - Charlie (brother). Hannah Harris - Violet (wife). Dan Lewis - George (husband). Helen MacFarlane - Julia (monologue). Rob Phillips - Alan (monologue). Ann Marie Piazza - Laurie (sister).
Company Credits: Bailey Locke - Writer, Director. James Tate - Lighting & Sound Designer / Operator. Producer - Castle Theatre Company.
END
John Park
reviewed Tuesday 10 August 04 / The Underbelly
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
