Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Faking It
Olivia Raine Atwood
Genre: Storytelling
Venue: Greenside at Riddle's Court
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
An actor/waitress/clown/dry-cleaner is offered an undercover job to test the preparedness of the USA health system for the pandemic. A delightful physical storytelling piece by a naturally funny performer.
Review
Olivia Atwood is discomposed by Google searches. You mustn’t Google her because you might mistake her for Olivia Attwood – she of the reality tv series “Love Island” who has two T’s. No, this Olivia – with only one T – is her own person, no doubt about that.
This is an accomplished stand-up, storytelling, solo theatre mash-up. Atwood flits seamlessly between the environments she creates, the situations within them and the characters who inhabit them. She is a skilful physical performer with great comic timing.
At the beginning we learn of her challenges – dyscalculia, so mathematics is impenetrable. She has small hands – “manus minimus” (useful as all doctors speak Latin) – and no concept of time. What some might perceive as vulnerabilities she sees as strengths and there are resulting delightful running gags, sewn in early and delivering fulsomely down the line.
Like most actors in America who have not (yet) hit the big time, in this story Atwood has a day job. In fact, more than one – she is self-confessedly an actress slash clown slash waitress slash drycleaner – reminiscent of Hal David’s immortal lyrics “And all the stars that never were, are parking cars and pumping gas. (NB in real life she is a very successful comedienne, writer, matchmaker and fitness trainer). She is trying to make it onto Broadway but the closest she’s getting is steaming Uma Thurman’s skirts. What is a girl to do?
Potential stardom comes calling when her regular hospital role-play job (she specialises in asthma) brings an offer of a top-secret, undercover job as the USA’s first covid guinea pig. (There’s a gerbil in here too, but that’s an entirely different, but equally amusing story).
The story is set in late 2019, when Atwood is tasked with testing the preparedness of the US health system for the onset of COVID. Her line “What do you know about healthcare in the US? There isn’t any!” draws uneasy, wry laughter from some Americans in the audience. She has to attend hospital reception and present certain symptoms and hope that everyone is up to speed with the latest protocol. What follows is a journey of mayhem and hilarity. This is not just a frothy bit of diversion – although it is all of that – but also partly a satire about just how unprepared the USA (indeed the whole world) was and how governments failed to respond in a timely fashion even when we knew about the unfolding situation in Wuhan. This is all handled with a pleasingly light and deft touch.
This is terrific storytelling, a fully physical performance, using only a chair and a few placards to enhance the tale. James Jenin’s impeccable direction ensures that we are always connected with location and the pace of the show enhances each set-piece. Atwood morphs between characters with a wink, an easy grin and an assured clown’s flourish. Her engagement with the audience – making sure everyone gets eye-contact – is top-notch.
Perhaps this is the start of a new and exciting journey – it will be interesting to see how this piece develops and what Atwood’s eye lights on next. In the meantime, enjoy this take on the pandemic in the capable hands of this assured – and naturally funny – writer and performer.
