Fierce is drama about the release and consequences of anger from a cast of two (2F). Two women lose their tempers and are turned into Furies in corsets. Salvation is offered if they allow an American man to release his anger. Scheduled running time 70 minutes, running time tonight approximately 50 minutes.

The set is a plain stage with colourful backdrop (by Stephen Crowther). It shows an oval picture-frame surrounded by flames above a black sea with whales; draped initially in beige velvet. Two actors enter on a bicycle, wearing coats. One (Ottillie Parfitt) vents a lengthy rant 'Get the fuck off my bike' at an unseen bike thief, and wonders 'What do you do with all that rage?' One (Polly Wiseman) rages at a department-store cashier when trying to exchange a pair of boots. 'What do we do with these raging furies?' they query, 'Put them in the spotlight and see what they get up to.' They put on arm-length red velvet gloves, take off their coats, and wear burlesque corsets and stockings - one actor in red costume over black, the other the reverse. They have become Doris Fury (Ottillie Parfitt) and Felicity Fury (Polly Wiseman).

Mr A Smith (Polly Wiseman) is a truck driver from Arkansas, who doesn't lose his temper. He's on his way to his mother's funeral. The Furies will, they are told, be absolved if they enable Mr A Smith to find and disperse his anger. This involves his redneck relation Frankie (Ottillie Parfitt who plays all remaining parts), a scene from hell to Arthur Brown's song Fire, the revelation of Mr Smith's unfortunate first name, a burnt wheatfield, some amusing lines ('Armageddon - it's not the end of the world'), a search for a copy of Paradise Lost, a therapist, Mr A Smith's mother, a journey to Alaska, the late Charles Trenet singing La Mer, an unexpected playmate for Mr A Smith, a librarian, a fast-food manager. Punishment is even-handed on men and women - and many are punished. And Mr A Smith finds the source of his anger - 'fierce as ten Furies'.

It's not clear why the Furies in Fierce wear burlesque clothes - the dominant visual feature of this production. Burlesque is included in the show's title, but it only seems tacked on to the work itself rather than springing from it. Perhaps Furies - born of castration, wreathed in serpents (according to Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org, which shows demure ones in fairly middle-class dresses on a Greek vase, though one has a breast out) - were naked, flaming, or covered in blood. None of these might be practical for theatre, but the essence of the Furies was apparently rage, rather than the odd-not-really-sexual area burlesque now occupies.

There's a sense at the start of Fierce, in the anger-venting scenes, that it's the performers themselves, as people, letting out the rage, and that compromises what follows. They may well not be, but the release of intense emotion on stage is a tricky act to pull off - theatre seems to demand that it 'real', but also contained. Here, it just seems real. There's a peculiar point, that theatre seems to work most convincingly when it feels as if it's being acted - though the acting needs to be invisible: an odd tautology, but one that audiences seem to follow.

A neat touch of the show is to ask the audience in advance to stuff red sheets of paper about what really enrages them into a white (fake) seal, leading to a clever surprise later, quite unexpected. The performances are enthusiastic rather than subtle - with Ottillie Parfitt's characterisations more towards the enthusiastic area, and Polly Wiseman's towards the subtle - but a lot of that is from the enjoyably hammy script. Perhaps Fierce in its present form is not great theatre - it's more like a mix of circus, street performance, anger (mis-) management class, storytelling - but it is entertaining, and original.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Ottillie Parfitt - Doris Fury, Frankie, Ma Smith, Shrink, Sue Ann Simpson, Jean Lundard. Polly Wiseman - Felicity Fury, Mr A Smith.

Company Credits: Writer - Ottillie Parfitt. Director - Andrea Brooks. Choreographer / Mentor - Janine Fletcher. Lighting Designer - Lewis Rose. Sound Designer - Mateusz Odrobny. Backdrop Designer - Stephen Crowther. Venue Credits: Artistic Directors - Miranda Henderson, Alister O'Loughlin.

END

John Park

reviewed Wednesday 16 May 07 / Nightingale

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008