RAPPORT FRINGE ... MARGINAAL VERSLAG ... FRINGE BERICHT
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drinks Monday 3 November 08
ASAP
Verdict: Surviving death, surviving love
Edinburgh 06 - Roman Eagle Lodge - 22:00 (01:10)
Brighton - Marlborough Theatre - 16-20 May 06 - 18:00 (19:10)
(This review is of the version at Brighton Fringe May 06)
Paul and Anna are alive. Amy and Sam are dead. ASAP is light drama about what happens next from a cast of 4 (2F, 2M), running at 70 minutes in one act.
Sisters Anna and Amy fell in love with flatmate lads Sam and Paul and moved in with them - making Anna and Sam; Amy and Paul. Sam and Amy died in a car crash with Sam driving. ASAP tells the story of how Anna and Paul start to survive; and the past story of how they all met, and what happened.
Writer and director Stuart Price creates a clever lattice of writing and structure that allows past and present to be brought to life without the loss of pace that often goes with flashback. There's a feeling of vitality in the staging. He presents the story as set-pieces - different kinds of sketch, all linked to a storyline. This allows him, as director, to play to the several skills of the cast - dance, karaoke mime, straight drama, comedy, farce. The result is genuinely affecting, helped by the playfulness of the cast (each, and together, consistently superb), who evoke a sense of fun, cut with biting poignancy.
Helped too by the undoubted good looks of the cast, who more or less cover all bases. Handsome David Beck is hunky and blond as Paul; pretty Hayley Doyle blonde and wholesome as Amy; equally pretty Nikki Davis-Jones impish and a bit naughty as Anna; equally handsome Nazim Kourgli rakish and fruitily depraved as Sam.
There are high spots. Sam's speech about fingering two French girls at once: 'I don't know if I have that kind of co-ordination'; the chat-up scenes between the two couples; a mimed song by Anna and Amy; a dance sequence by Paul and Sam. There are frequent flashes of inspired script: 'Amy used to take a stamped addressed envelope out on a Saturday night so she could post her cashcard back to herself'. Scenes such as 'Our Favourite Things' are so good, they literally stop the show.
In the present version of the play - and it's a work in progress - it sadly crash-lands at the end. This may perhaps be for two reasons. It doesn't seem to work within the story, which is about death and life, and told in (generally) a strongly realistic format. That means - as in reality, and sadly for survivors - that two need to be absent. Secondly, it's confusingly abstract (and annoyingly tricksy) and, when the meaning leaks through, it's simplistic, and doesn't tell anything that isn't already known.
With all the vigorous action in the play, there needs to be some resolution - some idea of what the survivors will do next - instead of the present grand finale which can't work (two of them are dead). At present a possible ending - with the subtle ambiguity of a coat deliberately left behind - is given, but it's blunted by an extra scene tacked on to 'finish' the play. Stuart Price and the outstanding cast make characters that can be cared about. Their destiny may be to part, join or die. However lonely, neutral or contented it may be, he needs to give the survivors the clue of a future - and end on it.
Cast Credits: (alpha order): David Beck - Paul. Nikki Davis-Jones - Anna. Hayley Doyle - Amy. Nazim Kourgli - Sam.
Company Credits: Writer, Director - Stuart Price. Designer - Sam Exley. Company - This Lousy Theatre Company. Marlborough Theatre: Artistic Directors – Nicola Haydn & Eden Rivers.
END
John Park
reviewed Tuesday 16 May 06 / Marlborough Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
