Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Letters From My Dad (Who is Dead)
Collision Theatre
Genre: Drama, New Writing
Venue: C Aquila
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
This is a script that needs a few redrafts. It is well directed and tightly imagined. And with some of their attention placed n developing this it could become a really exciting musing on the early death of a parent.
Review
There is a lot to commend this performance as the idea has a great deal of merit. A father faced with death decides to write letters for the future of his son. Throughout the son’s life, we witness various moments when the advice of this absent parent is sought. It comes full circle as Charlie, the son, eventually finds himself as a father himself, married with a devoted wife and facing death as well. The symptoms for both seem to be similar and therefore the legacy from father to son appears to be settled negatively as well as the attempt to be a positive influence from beyond the grave.
There are essentially two real problems here – both of which are surmountable. Firstly, the script does not always exploit the dramatic possibilities this idea offers. Charlie appears to live a charmed life aside from the death of his father and his own demise. He manages to meet the girl of his dreams early, has a university education mapped out for him and aside from the two big events, life is peachy. Next are the two female characters. The mother never marries again, meets another man or has much to do apart from support men. The girlfriend and future wife does end up determining where they shall live as she gets into her choice of university but aside from that this is another relationship of no bumps or real issues. And dad? The idea of a ghost advising you consistently and managing to manage your life from beyond the grave for both Charlie and his mum does at times come across like a manipulative and controlling presence – almost creepy.
What gives me comfort is that this appears to be a company who have already got the original thought, they just need to develop it more, expand its complexities by working on the inter relationships between characters and the rest should flow. At times some of the dialogue belies the age of the company – they are young and some of the messages from dad to son are a little hackneyed – and not the worse for that, dads after all, are corny beasts. But there is something about a man who is never wrong that seems strange in 2024.
Secondly is the youthfulness of the company and the range of ages they need to portray. Here we do not quite get the full seven ages, but we are close. At times you get that earnestness and naivete when there should be gravitas and unspoken experience, it is a tough ask and given the range of heavy-duty topics, it needs a wider range onstage. But again, there are times when you see the possibilities underneath as the company would be so capable of taking the emergence of both Sam and Charlie, focus on a time where they have specific experience and use that knowledge to exploit the possibilities of the idea rather than some of the limitations of the script.
The use of lighting, the morning I saw it also needs a wee tighten. The opening had dad half in shadow for no discernible reason at the beginning and I think it might work better if he was wholly in shadow.
I left really positive about what I had seen because although I felt this was a jumble of ideas there were some really nice abilities onstage which, along with the possibilities this company had unearthed with their approach, this looked in good hands. Who knows if they shall be back, but seeing an emerging bunch of creatives is quite the Fringe thing – they have found the right place to pitch, time now to go off and develop this further.
