Edinburgh Fringe 2024
So Young
Traverse Theatre in co-production with Raw Material and Citizens Theatre
Genre: Comedy, Dark Comedy, New Writing, Theatre
Venue: Traverse Theatre
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Outstanding, sharply observed new writing, forming part of Travfest24.
Review
Kicking back with old friends. What could be better ? Milo is having a couple (Liane and Davie) over to his place for drinks and a take-away, in an archetypal middle-class setting in Glasgow. Now in their forties, they are very old friends. They usually have a familiarity, ease and comfort together that are commensurate with the passing of time and shared experiences. After a comically rapid coital act, Davie and Liane are getting ready for the evening out when Davie drops in to the conversation that Milo wants them to meet someone. Liane’s radar is palpably activated : is this is a woman ? If so, by implication, is it a significant one ? Davie’s apparent nonchalance is ambiguous – is he chilled, or being deliberately coy ? And just why does this prospect bother Liane so ?
Liane and Davie are now at Milo’s, sharing glasses of wine, but the treasured bottle of Japanese whisky is deliberately put away. Milo’s love interest is on her way, late, and just before she arrives there is a minor bombshell – she is a twenty year old acting student. The timing is such that Liane and Davie do not have sufficient time to process this, as Greta breezily arrives. The initial exchanges are somewhat awkward.
Their lives begin to be revealed and we learn that Milo’s wife, Helen, who was Liane’s close friend, died of cancer just three months ago. Liane begins to give voice to her earlier consternation but then a further, more seismic, revelation : Milo and Greta are not just having a sexual relationship, they are “in love” and engaged to be married. Liane now goes through the gears, perhaps fuelled by the wine, especially upon learning that Milo is planning to marry next month and move to London. Devastatingly, however, the planned memorial for Helen seems to be taking a back seat and Liane can no longer contain her fury.
Milo (Nicholas Karimi) elegantly plays the middle-aged man in the midst of a juxtaposition. He wants his close friends to like his new partner and wants her to like them, but, given the proximity to Helen’s demise, knows deep-down that Liane especially will have issues with this. His discomfort is obvious.
Greta (Yana Harris) is the twenty year old disruptor, but one with wisdom beyond her years. While apparently casual, she is perceptive and confidently comfortable in her own skin.
Davie (Andy Clark) is the everyman, a people pleaser with sardonic wit, innately endeavouring to reconcile disparate positions. Is there a pang of jealousy that his friend is having sex with a woman so young ?
Liane (the outstanding Lucianne McEvoy) is sensitive, insightful, funny, compassionate but undiplomatic. Her grief for Helen is compounded by guilt at not being present at the moment of her demise. Her antipathy to Greta has at its core an element of transference.
The plethora of intra-relationships shift and undulate as the situation is iteratively revealed. Liane’s initial dismissiveness of Greta is challenged ; she has, perhaps to her surprise, met her match in the shape of this twenty year old, who it transpires is equally unflinching.
Douglas Maxwell’s script is insightful, layered and at times piercingly funny. Gareth Nicholls’ assured direction is symbiotic with Kenny Miller’s set design. There are some subtle touches – the wine is Chocolate Block, the stereo system vinyl, all tells of a middle-class arena, with the soundtrack and musical references (e.g. Talking Heads) firmly establishing their backstory.
There are a number of themes : the frustrations of middle class, the wistful middle-aged feeling of lost youth, sexual politics (Liane rebukes Greta for clearing away plates while the men are “probably playing billiards”). There is more than a shade of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? here and especially Yasmina Reza’s The God Of Carnage, but So Young has its own poignant voice.
Can old friendships be preserved in the midst of all of these events ? Or might there be a new dimension on the horizon, with evolving dynamics ? This sharply observed play hints at a future. The touching significance of the Japanese whisky and the outgoing Fleetwood Mac soundtrack offer clues. Every aspect of this production is outstanding – see it while you can.
