Precious Little Talent is a play set in New York about family, indentity, love and Anglo-American cultural clashes.

The three-hander follows Sam (Simon Ginty), an optimistic 19-year-old New Yorker who works for George (John McColl), an English academic whose mental faculties are on the wane. It’s Christmas Eve and Sam has a seemingly chance flirtation on the roof of George’s building. The object of his desire is Joey (Emma Hiddleston), a slightly aloof English girl, and the pair spend a confusing but romantic evening together, ending up in a passionate clinch in the middle of Grand Central Station. The next morning it is revealed that Joey is George’s daughter when Sam turns up to his employer’s flat and finds her sleeping on the floor.

The trio spend Christmas together and the complexities of the father and daughter relationship are brought into focus, while Sam’s can-do American optimism is accentuated by Joey’s English cynisism. She has travelled to New York to see her father for the first time in many years after losing her job and running out of options back home in Britain. Her growing realisation of her father’s condition sends her further down the road to despair, with Sam’s effortless enthusiasm in the wake of the Obama victory the only positive in a sea of negatives – while even this she finds frustrating.

While the central part of the story concerns the slow-blossoming romance between Sam and Joey, the most affecting relationships are those involving George. Sam has an obvious love for the elderly and cantankerous man, whose insults thinly veil a fondness for his employee. Meanwhile, Joey clearly has suffered a bumpy upbringing and has issues with her estranged father. The thought of George’s mental illness potentially wiping all memory of her from his brain, however, allows her true feelings to rise up and overcome the past. A partial redemption is found by the end of the performance.

Emma Hiddleton is a joy to watch as Joey, nailing the character’s spoilt nature while allowing her warmer side to peer through whenever her guard is down. She is a hugely complex personality and this is made clear throughout – particularly in her relationship with Sam where she is seemingly able to grow closer to the young man without even admitting to liking him.

Sam, on the other hand, is played by Simon Ginty as being as straightforward as Joey is complex. Filled with pioneer spirit and the American dream, he believes in everything and everybody. His courtship of Joey is a triumph of hope over experience. This is exemplified in a section where the play cleverly tells the story of the couple’s first meeting twice, firstly from Sam’s point of view and then from Joey’s. Everything Sam sees as magical and fated is revealed to be coincidence and misunderstanding.

John McColl takes on the tough job of playing George. His rendering of a man mentally on the edge, concerned about what he may or may not remember when he next wakes up, stirs the emotions strongly. His fierce intellect is obvious, making his depreration at being unable to recall some piece of grammatical nuance all the more affecting. At several points in the play he is left alone on stage attempting to shave. The look in his eyes when he first comprehends his inability to complete a task so simple conveys an enormous amount about the horror of mental illness.

The writing by Ella Hickson takes what could have been a simplistic story and turns it into a labaryth of emotion. Using a light touch, the plot regularly turns in an unexpected direction to shine meaningful light on a seemingly throwaway comment which has gone before. The characters are wonderfully rounded, with added layers built up throughout the hour’s performance. In fact, the only negative is the running time which seems too short, leaving the end slightly hurried.

The terrific performances, writing and direction are complimented by an intelligent set design, conjuring up a variety of scenes, from the interior of the flat to the rooftop, with minimum fuss letting the action unwind unhindered.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Simon Ginty – Sam. Emma Hiddleston – Joey. John McColl – George.

Company Credits: Writer – Ella Hickson. Director – Ella Hickson. Assistant Director – Polly Bennett. Technicians – Cat Hobart, Dave Larking, Alex Macmillan. Graphics – David Tyndall. Company – Tantrums Ltd.

END

(c) David Hepburn 2009

reviewed Thursday 27 August 2009 / Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh, UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com