Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Low Down
Written from lived experience, a cardio thoracic surgeon goes into freefall with life changing consequences.
Review
The Fringe should always have space for artists to tell their stories, no matter how factional or closer to documentary style. Since Covid, more and more productions are focusing on the NHS staff, cracking under the pressures and strains of a broken system. Here is a personal story, written and performed by Stephanie Perry, that gets to the heart of the issues.
The tone is quite confessional, we discover the location at the end of the play, the circumstances that have led to her story. She is a 37 year old cardiothoracic surgeon , her boss is a bully, her girlfriend has left her due to her demanding hours, and her mum wants to be a grandmother before it’s too late. Mum is a paticularly well realised character, providing a good deal of comic relief. Written by Perry, the piece has a strong feeling of authenticity, based in part on her personal experiences. She is an engaging performer, and the play is very well structured. Although the themes are urgent and it occasionally feels that the drama is being layered too thickly, it is balanced by some very funny scenes, especially when she tries heterosexuality just to get pregnant.
If I do have one criticism, it’s that Perry needs to make sure her diction is loud and clear at all times. This isn’t helped by the noise bleed at the venue, with a particularly loud hand dryer in the toilet next door! This wasn’t too much of a distraction overall, but did lose some important elements from the script, especially when the vocals are quiet. Overall, however, this is a strong piece and performance, and I noted that health care professionals in the audience were very complimentary to Perry after the performance. It does appear to be sharing some uncomfortable truths about our health service. It plays early morning and will start your Fringe day off well.
