Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Low Down
A happy couple are about to celebrate their anniversary when there is a knock at the door. But who is it, and what do they want? Intrusion, a new play from James Cumming, is about the past catching up with us and how we deal with the consequences and marks the debut of Scottish emerging theatre company, Locked In Thought.
Review
Intrusion is the debut play from Locked In Thought Theatre Company. Leaning gently on the themes from the 2021 (somewhat unfavourably received) film of the same name, the stage version in theSpace @ Venue 45’s accommodating, thrust based theatre, is a gripping, tense thriller, with the numerous plot twists redolent of tearing off the next layer of paper in a game of pass the parcel – uncertainty as to what will be revealed. We’ve all got a past but what happens when it starts to catch up with you? What measures are you prepared to take to avenge a previous wrong or seek justice?
The play opens with Jonathan (played by writer James Cumming) making meticulous preparations for a celebratory evening – an anniversary dinner for his soon to be fiancé Mia (Katrina Hamilton Smith). But intimacy takes a back seat when an unwelcome visitor arrives, reorienting the emotional dynamic, a bombshell from the past that forces the couple to confront long-buried secrets. Cue an unflinching exploration covering themes of consent, consequence, and the inescapable influence of our past on our present, the tension maintained by the cast’s consummate acting, leading to a denouement that is as chilling as it is unexpected.
Cumming’s tight script offers little relief from the suspense laden narrative – only sporadic, throw away lines lightening the mood. But that’s only momentary as the dialogue fizzes with subtext, each revelation carrying weight as well as keeping the plot rolling forwards.
Sam (the impressive Rory McColl) completes a cast triangle with Jonathan and Mia, with each of the possible pairing combinations of these three actors delivering crisp, tense exchanges as the story unfolds, the tension ratcheting up when all three are engaged, ensuring the audience identifies the increasingly conflicting relationships, the fissures turning to crevasses from which there is no escape.
This is an impressive piece of theatre from this emerging company. Full of intrigue and suspense from the outset, it then add layers of complexity on top of its central premise. The emotional core—pairs of people forced to face something they thought long gone—resonates sharply, leaving the audience stunned at its conclusion, harbouring lingering questions about guilt, justice, and how far one will go for closure. Those seeking a gritty, intense theatrical experience would do well to catch this.
