Edinburgh Fringe 2018
Dib, Dib Dead
Gordon Craig Theatre Senior Drama Academy
Genre: New Writing, Theatre, Youth Theatre
Venue: theSpace@Surgeon's Hall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Two Scouts arrive at a deserted farmhouse and find six corpses. With the use of flashback, we get to see how these six are connected and how they became dead. From the obnoxious know it all bully to the highly knowledgeable swot and all in between their end comes through an unseen hand, apart from the two who kill each other. By the end we are left with the likelihood that the two new comers are also not going to make it.
Review
The youthful cast certainly cannot be faulted for energy nor for enthusiasm. They go to this drama with a gusto that drives the narrative, which does have some holes in it. There are, as you might expect some good performances and a few that struggle to equal their colleagues but what is clear is their collective will is strong and the collaborative process has done them well.
The direction requires some thought. The exits and entrances are clumsy and we do not get a sense of an experienced hand upon the tiller. Along with the lack of finesse we got a little naivety in how a bare stage would or could be seen as an outdoor and indoor venue.
The cast seemed at times well able to carry off a realistic mime and the lack of movement onstage between characters meant that an opportunity was lost to show the difference between being outside and in. Their proximities were scattered and again a stronger directional sense would have supported them more.
The lighting was basic though the red light for descriptions of each death was a nice touch. There were other opportunities to dull the inside and perhaps also use lighting to show the passage of time and the closing in of the night.
The costumes were authentic and good but if you are going to splash out on such good costumes, get a map. It would allow for the gag on holding the map the wrong way up and was missed. I can understand given the quality of the costume that blood was getting nowhere near them but having one of the cast with a nose bleed suggests that having blood at all was not totally an issue.
Overall this was a very worthy performance with a varied level of success. I was impressed by the company’s gusto and with a better script and some stronger direction it would have achieved a little more. Given that they are in the Fringe they have had an exceptional opportunity that seems to have been taken with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. That is clearly their triumph in Dib, Dib Dead, the value of which shall come with their next production .
