Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Freak Out!
Coin Toss Collective
Genre: Contemporary, Dance and Movement Theatre, New Writing
Venue: Pleasance Dome
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Freak Out! explores the impact of climate change catastrophes on real communities. Coin Toss Collective, graduates of Bristol Old Vic, blend clowning, physical theatre and naturalistic drama with support of choreographer Anthony Matsena (Saddler’s Wells Associate) and prize winning playwright Matt Grinter. This young company urge the audience to consider the impact of climate change in this country and the damage it is causing our communities, and encourages the audience to take action.
Review
Welcome to Portsford! Such a jolly seaside town. Bring your bucket and spade, roll up your trousers and breathe in that salty sea air. A nostalgic glimpse of the past glories of the British summer holidays in a thriving seaside town. Sadly such towns struggle in the 21st century, and Portsford is no exception – failing economy and failing shoreline. Freak Out! is set in this (fictional) town albeit based on real communities and what unfolds on stage has been meticulously researched, including the ‘save our seashore’ fundraising party which is the framing device for the piece. Some residents are second or third generation with an innate connection to the seashore, others are incomers, keeping one toe in London while they dip the other in the seaside experience. The challenge they all face is that houses are falling off the cliffs. A local councillor has been fighting their cause but when the long awaited Government compensation offer comes it is a pittance. Even so some residents want to take it, while others are determined to fight on and so sides are formed and tensions rise.
Coin Toss Collective are part of a growing global movement using theatre to explore, raise awareness and campaign for change to address the climate crisis. Freak Out! examines not only the huge practical implications for communities but the emotional angst this pressing issue has, perhaps particularly with a younger generation facing a scary future. Taking documentary footage, interviews and exploring stories with a local community they have created a (mainly) physical theatre show which explores erosion of the Norfolk coast – an issue for centuries as villages disappear under the sea, but the rapid rise in global temperatures has accelerated the problem.
A lot is crammed into the show – ideas, performance styles and a 7-strong cast on a small stage. The volume sometimes overwhelms enjoyment and some judicious pruning would make it easier to navigate – for the audience and perhaps for the cast. The least interesting are the naturalistic party scenes but there are moments of excellence throughout – the narration of the found documentary material, the precision of the physical theatre and the representation of time running out as characters dunk heads in buckets of water emerging breathless. Worthy recipients of one of 6 Sit Up Awards in 2024 this is important political theatre with a call to action which is hard to ignore.
