Annie (Arielle Brown) and Livia (Reni Kay) are in a van. They are planning on picking up some friends and having a big night out but Livia has forgotten her bag. This is an irritation for the highly volatile Annie as the bag contains not only the cigarettes, spare knickers and tampons but most importantly the money for the 'booze and drugs'.

Booze and drugs are seemingly the only thing that unites the crew that subsequently join Annie and Livia in the van. First to be picked up are Mina (Sarah-Jane Brion) and Derek (Piers Robinson). Derek is slightly posh and worryingly thick. Mina is a floaty Bohemian sporting sparkly-blue eyeshadow and given to talking nonsense. They are later joined by Mo (Bamshad Abedi-Amin), a dealer 'from Kilburn'; Charlie (Cem Pakiry-Turgut), an amiable stoner; and Laura (Carly Halse), a reclusive, caring student. Their quest for drink and drugs leads them all not only to the wrong place but also into a series of chaotic encounters with Nicky (Angus Scott-Miller) a mentally unsound drug casualty.

The characters will be familiar to anyone who has ever set out on a similar endeavour to Annie and Livia's. It is a credit to the cast and director that despite this they manage to generate multi-faceted portrayals which resist caricature. Sadly though, not enough is done with these characters. Too often the stage is silent and very little is happening. Proper Night's subtlety saves it from being yet another stereotypical drug comedy / drama, but the repeatedly still and slow scenes with only sparse dialogue and a very thin and obvious plot let it down.

When the play does liven up, there are some enjoyable moments. The section where the friends take ecstasy is the highlight - the choreography portrays the euphoria and empathetic nature of the ecstasy experience well. There is also great strength in a lot of the material that revolves around Nicky. Well portrayed by Angus Scott-Miller, Nicky is not an original character but he is sensitively used and the strongest narrative feature in the piece.

Proper Night is not helped by a venue that is not fit for purpose even by Edinburgh's basic standards. Michael Burke's lighting and sound design does what it can to keep up with the changes of location, time and mental environment but it is apparent that the venue is not able to support his ideas or the piece. Stage manager Sarah Barnes has to work very hard and it is a credit to her that she keeps working diligently against entirely inappropriate hinderances throughout.

A play about a group of friends having a disastrous night on drugs is not an original idea. But strong characters and subtle direction mean that Proper Night avoids many of the problems which might have beset it. But the strong elements of the piece are spread too thin across the hour, and the venue lets down what could have been a vividly theatrical piece.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Bamshad Abedi-Amin - Mo. Sarah-Jane Brion - Mina. Arielle Brown - Annie. Carly Halse - Laura. Reni Kay - Livia. Cem Pakiry-Turgut - Charlie. Piers Robinson - Derek. Angus Scott-Miller - Nicky.

Company Credits: Deviser - Cast & Dominic McHale. Director - Dominic McHale. Lighting Designer - Michael Burke. Sound Designer - Michael Burke. Technical Operator - (uncredited). Stage Manager – Sarah Barnes. Producer - (uncredited). Company - OutHouse Collective. Website - www.wix.com/outhousecollective/outhousecollective.

END

(c) George Maddocks 2011

reviewed Saturday 6 August 2011 / Princes Mall, Edinburgh, UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com