Edinburgh Fringe 2009
Low Down
Lads is a show from James Kermack and Bruised Sky Productions. It is part of the Free Fringe, and is staged in the tiniest theatre in the back of a pub. Jammed in together prepared to watch a show about four guys out on the town for the night. The intimacy and heat added to the experience of four guys playing over 40 characters, as they make their way through bars, buses, taxis, and a hoard of other experiences captured in one night on the town.
Review
Starring Jack Badley, Barra Collins, Frey Le Maistre and Anthony Thomason, the production is surprising and completely defies its free fringe status, by being definitely worth paying for. The bucket at the end is nicely filled and it is impressive work of this quality can be found on the fringe. Improvements could be made and one of the actors, Jack Badley perhaps seems somewhat less convincing than his counterparts, only because perhaps unconsciously his eyes tend to glass over and not focus on those performers or audience members he is speaking to.
What is suprising about the piece is its rise to an unexpected climax, one I am not going to reveal in the review for fear of spoiling the experience. The production careers along with little pause for breath, much like the night on the town they play out. It is sometimes a touch too fast paced meaning that some of the scenes are lost in amongst eachother. Their impressions of women in the pub are second to none and for this alone it is worth going along to see these boys perform. There is a laugh a minute and the non-stop frenetic pace of the piece leaves you reeling in the power of it.
It would be interesting to see this in a bigger space better able to accommodate the fantastic physicality of each of the characters the actors present. Frey Le Maistre’s main Lad character gets the most stage time and as a result becomes one of the most interesting characters to watch unfold. This is a piece requiring a low budget, reliant on very few props, allowing its performers to create the atmosphere. A whirlwind hour which flies by and an ensemble show I would like to see in a London pub after Edinburgh.
