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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Cargo
Verdict: Immigration drama
Four characters inform and move the audience, although they revert to stereotype. The opinionated and passionate Ivan returns to naive ignorance. Mira - the one female passenger, whose beliefs include tarot and a deep conviction that there is still ‘hope’ - is clearly doomed from the outset: tragedy and suffering are part of her past and future. Damia is an older and wiser character, a doctor. Branko is the complementary baddy – he aptly draws the death card in the climactic scene.
Perhaps the inevitability is intended, and the stress of the play lies in emphasizing the difficulties emigrants are known to encounter - in which case predictability is not relevant. As a whole - both visually and as a piece of writing - the play has a rounded, satisfying structure. Character development is formulaic, so it is hard to experience empathy.
An effective and simple set design allows the actors to move freely between the boxes that make up the initial cargo. A tense rhythm gradually builds on a dynamic rectangle of stage for a claustrophobic journey from Croatia to Britain.
Cast Credits: (alpha order): Maria Corcobado – Mira. Steven Miller – Ivan. Ted Pleasance - Damia. Ian Rose - Branko.
Company Credits: Writer – Ben Richards. Director - Michael Longhurst. Designer - Polly Webb-Wilson. Lighting Design - Sherry Coenen. Original Composition - Toby Knowles. Additional Sound Design - Jenny Kent, Thomas Kyle. Mira’s Theme - Ben Richards. Cello - Alex Sylvester. Stage Manager/Sound Operator - Daniel Staniforth. Lighting Operator/Deputy Stage Manager – Jason Miseldine. Artwork - Elizabeth Emanuel. Assistant Stage Manager - Chris Stokes. Production Consultant - Davina Shah. Fight Director - Rachel Brown Williams. Accent Support - Elspeth Morrison. Programme Design - Eloise Emanuel. Producer – Eloise Emanuel. Thanks to Daniel Staniforth (http://www.cheesemongersanonymous.blogspot.com) for corrections.
END
(c) Lara Apponyi 2005
reviewed 26 February 05 / The Oval House Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
