Edinburgh Fringe 2016
Death of Her Brother
Dandy Trap
Genre: Physical Theatre, Theatre
Venue: Sweet Grassmarket
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
This is not a linear piece of theatre but three characters who provide us with a visual feast in front of a multi media installation. We hear of Anna’s struggle and Edward’s involvement in what seems to be a mentally tough and challenging time for both. By using the characters who seem to be melting in front of us the depths of despair are mined and we leave with a highly creative and artistic vision of the meaning of such tragedy.
Review
If you cannot push boundaries at the Fringe – give it up. This does take us on a fantastical journey and I am none the worse for that. We enter and have two characters standing entwined in front of us. Once they separate they appear as Edward and Annie. Annie drives the narrative whilst Edward seems to be the one, acting like the hospital visitor, on whom Annie dotes and wants to recreate a relationship. Over time we get introduced to a third character who appears from the audience to physically berate Annie, acting like some form of death figure that always seems to have his back to us.
The visual treat in which we were entertained was the shifting backdrop. The multimedia element of this worked particularly well. It was highly visual already but the backdrop got mentioned during the piece and you felt it was integral rather than thrown on because someone thought it was a good idea.
The performers were fantastic. Both captured spirits and gave us their essence. This Glasgow company have a very bright future in this area of work if this is their beginning. I also loved the singing and the silent scream towards the end showed an inner understanding of the grief that seemed to be all encompassing.
With lights and sound as accompanying performers this was an ensemble piece of theatre art that had many participants not in costume and not onstage. It made it all the better for that and I was glad to see how the costumes, punk 17th century with lights, literally, in Annie’s hair bringing that distance between us and them as a springboard to begin the action. I loved the piece and though I did wonder why the third actor “appeared” from the audience, am happy to accept it may be due to the small nature of the venue and those restrictions giving him nowhere to hide and reveal, it was overall a great hour. If you like your theatre a little bit challenging and a wee bit out there this is literally a Hidden gem for you to find.
