Camden Fringe 2023
Camden Fringe 2023 Jean and Bo are on the town for Bo’s highschool reunion, awaiting the arrival of his old skool buddy Ted. They’ve chosen to satisfy at a bar operating a trivia quiz, though all three of them profess to hate trivia – and although they appropriately guess the solutions to all of the questions. Jean (performed with neurotic belligerence by Maisie Norma Seaton) is anxious earlier than the arrival of Ted (a hyperactive Saul Barrett), for causes that aren’t totally defined. she presses Bo (a self-confident efficiency from Esmonde Cole) to reminisce about his previous, to…
Rating
Ok
A tense, intimate play about reminiscence and relationships, let down by a confused ending.
Jean and Bo are on the town for Bo’s highschool reunion, awaiting the arrival of his old skool buddy Ted. They’ve chosen to satisfy at a bar operating a trivia quiz, though all three of them profess to hate trivia – and although they appropriately guess the solutions to all of the questions.
Jean (performed with neurotic belligerence by Maisie Norma Seaton) is anxious earlier than the arrival of Ted (a hyperactive Saul Barrett), for causes that aren’t totally defined. she presses Bo (a self-confident efficiency from Esmonde Cole) to reminisce about his previous, to Bo’s reluctance. ‘I just hate thinking about the past,’ he asserts. Which is a curious assertion, because the complete of the play is given over to dredging up and reenacting previous reminiscences.
All three are preoccupied with intercourse, and speak about little else. Bo and Ted recount their respective lack of virginity; Jean, feeling more and more overlooked, explicitly flirts with Ted, benefiting from his six-month-old break-up to drive him right into a state of sexual confusion. ‘I’m tender, like a peach. I bruise simply,’ she declares, earlier than persevering with: ‘I orgasm easily too. About 20 seconds.’
But there’s extra buried prior to now than any of them wish to admit to. Jean is haunted by an unspecified unhealthy expertise; Ted struggles with melancholy; and even extrovert jock Bo admits to having spent ‘about a week’ in hospital earlier than going to Princeton. Nothing is ever totally defined.
After scenes on an athletics observe and in a locker room, expectations are raised for the large reveal. But the ultimate two scenes are the place the play falls aside. First comes a flashback sequence enacting a trauma – however because the three didn’t all know one another on the time, it’s unclear which characters they’re taking part in at this level prior to now. Is this Bo and Ted remembering an occasion from their schooldays, by which Jean performs a unique character? Or the opposite means round? Ultimately we don’t know whose trauma is being resurrected, and the dual props of a used tissue and a rest room do little to light up the scenario.
This is adopted by a protracted passage of recorded dialogue, performed initially towards a blacked-out stage. But poor audio high quality and over-amplification make the voices laborious to know, and even tougher to assign. We assume that these are the voices of attendees on the reunion, however the mute look of Jean obsessively sharpening the lid of a rest room confuses the message relatively than illuminating it.
With sturdy performances all spherical and tight course from Maxi Himpe, the play delves into problems with trauma and victimhood with at instances ferocious depth. Nurit Chinn’s writing is assured and warranted, and delves deep into the characters’ personalities. But the play’s failure to speak its message within the ultimate scenes leaves the viewers baffled; in striving for theatrical novelty the denouement loses readability.
Written by: Nurit Chinn
Directed by: Maxi Himpe
Intimacy Coordinator/ Dramaturgy by: Sara Hazemi
Sound Designer: Marc Jablonski
Best of Three performs on the Etcetera Theatre till 1 August. Further data and bookings could be discovered right here.