Edinburgh Fringe 2018
Sit with us for a moment and remember
The Lincoln Company and Michael Pinchbeck
Genre: Immersive, New Writing, Site-Specific
Venue: ZOO Charteris venue 124
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Every 15 minutes a person is invited to sit on a bench, look out at Arthur’s Seat and take a moment, a real moment to pause and reflect. Even if it’s raining. A micro performance about the importance of remembering.
Review
This is a hidden gem of a show; a perfect antidote for this festival with its crowded streets, cacophony of buskers and eager show promoters busy with their flyers. A quiet singular experience in this large and imposing city packed with history but home to many real individual people too.
This is a piece of theatre about what matters in the act of remembering – to pay attention to the memory and the moment, to give it time. A reminder also that theatre needs two to participate; performer and audience member. The performance can only exist if you are there, one of many in a large auditorium or on a simple bench, the only audience, the only focus for the only performer. If this sounds intense, it isn’t. The most taxing thing you will be asked to do is put on a set of headphones and occasionally close your eyes. How much you interact is up to you.
It was raining the day I went so the experience was heightened as I listened to the drizzle tapping on my umbrella, a bit like lying in a tent in the rain. I am not sure how severe the weather would have to be for cancellation but do ring ahead to the main ZOO box office and they can check for you. They keep the bench dry and the headphones warm your ears.
For people who might be slightly nervous of being the only audience member sitting in a scrub of green slightly off the beaten track there is an usher in attendance at all times and the interaction with the performer, when it happens, is very gentle.
