Jumping And Other Thoughts is a story about four women, their lives, encounters and friendships, all centred on the death of a graffiti-painting homeless man. On a different level, the events are tied together by an observing Darkroom Assistant, analysing the process of developing pictures and comparing it to life.

Photographer Annie is obsessed with taking pictures. She seems to see life only through her camera lens, and excludes everybody - including her flatmate and friend, lonely Katie. Summer - who suffers with synaesthesia - meets Fran - a journalist - and together they try to discover whether the deceased homeless man was affected by the same condition.

The set is simple. There's a small table in a corner for the Darkroom Assistant, a couple of chairs, a suitcase of photographs, a clothes line with pegs. Each peg holds a different memory/moment contributed by the audience before the show starts. They are read out during the performance. The use of these moments is ingenious and touching, bringing the piece to a personal level. Music, lighting, images, and almost dance-like movement are used skilfully to create moods.

Due to illness, the character of the Darkroom Assistant is today played by director Ben Luke. It is unfortunately too obvious that Ben Luke is a director and not an actor, struggling throughout the show to control his nerves. He delivers a decent reading from a clipboard, but is inaudible a lot of the time, which ruins the otherwise interesting and moving text. This unfortunately has a knock-on effect on the rest of the performance.

Amy Powell Yeates makes a believable yet slightly uninteresting Fran. Stephanie Jane de Whalley is energetic and very likeable as photographer Annie. Millie Mabres as Katie is too often difficult to hear, and the character's story-line is a bit dull and almost disposable. Cara Cummings as dry-humoured Summer stands out, with strong comic presence.

Jumping And Other Thoughts is a stimulating piece of theatre cleverly incorporating poetry and music to explore different moments in life. It contains some great and interesting ideas, but they are not always executed clearly - making the story confusing at times.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Cara Cummings - Summer. Ben Luke (replacing Al Cummins) - Darkroom Assistant. Millie Mabres - Katie. Stephanie Jane de Whalley - Annie. Amy Powell Yeates - Fran (journalist).

Company Credits: Writers - Al Cummins, Jess Heywood, Rich Thornton. Directors - Ben Luke & Becky Martin. Technical Operator - uncredited. Publicity Manager - Anna Landreth Strong. Original soundtrack - Art Pedro. Producer - Sylvia Harrison. Company - Aireborne Theatre.

END

(c) Trine Garrett 2008

reviewed Thursday 21 August 08 / Underbelly, Edinburgh

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com