Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Low Down
Mosinee, Wisconsin, 1950. An idyllic Midwestern town is the unsuspecting community about to become part of an experiment to wake the American people up to the threat of communism. Set in the fevered era of McCarthyism, a hunt of communists in all strata of American society, The Mosinee Project is a drama which attempts to explore the why of the event as much as the how.
Review
The Mosinee Project promises much in its publicity and marketing blurb right through to the opening set up on stage which reminds us that when the USA wobbles then the rest of the west wobbles with it – and then doesn’t deliver on expectations. It is let down by a plot which appears to swerve all the important and interesting elements of this true event, exploring instead rivalry between the three protagonists organising the event. This might have worked had the 3 characters been famous and we got to see some fascinating backroom politicking but as John Decker, Joseph Kornfedder, and Ben Gitlow – all key members of the patriotic American Legion – are not household names their tug of war to control the Mosinee mock invasion does not make for an interesting dramatic journey.
There are strong and engaging performances from the 3-strong cast Jonathan Oldfield, Martha Watson Allpress and Millicent Won; they also helped devise the show which is based on archival research. Watson Allpress and Won give GIltrow and Kornfedder heft and menace and Oldfield as Decker captures that irritating confidence of career attorneys. Their precise stagecraft in strong set pieces and confident manipulation of all the technical elements did rescue what otherwise would have been a rather dull hour. Patch Middleton’s sound design creates menace and heightens the tension in the action.
Counterfactual is a new company that aims to make shows that tap into the strange, complicated underbelly of contemporary life. It seems in The Mosinee Project they have got too hung up on original material and not let imagination create a more meaningful story from the true events. They won one of three Edinburgh Untapped Awards to bring The Mosinee Project to the Fringe, and that financial investment shows in the production values. The 3 creatives credited with set, costume, lighting, and video design (Grace Venning, Catja Hamilton, Dan Light) have all provided interesting responses, giving a polish to this otherwise strangely lacklustre play.
