Written and Directed by Cesca Echlin

Performed by Abby McCann

Review by Josie Rose Embleton

An exploration of fantasy and reality, love, connection, and seduction, Looking for Giants invites its attentive audience to listen to this engaging one-woman story of imagination.

Cesca Echlin’s debut solo play from emerging theatre company That What’s Wild begins as a girl recounts her experience with a harsh and judgmental tutor who has a notable ‘tendency to annihilate’ during her struggles writing her dissertation. After several meetings, she begins questioning herself and her feelings, later using dating apps to seductively speak to men, exploring her relationship with them together with herself. The play ends with a hopeful message, carefully tying it to the opening monologue which refers to the exciting prospect of meeting someone who just might change your life.

Occupying an empty stage, aside from a stool and a microphone, Abby McCann’s solo performance is brilliantly strong and controlled, utilising a narrative style to address the audience often directly, drawing them ever closer into the anonymous protagonist’s life. Multi-rolling techniques are used frequently and effectively, with McCann’s physicality and vocality, enhanced by the microphone, used to portray other characters precisely and carefully.

The music provides a subtle yet effective use of ambience when the play reaches its significant twists and turns, with repeated tracks nicely binding the scenes together. It’s additionally aided by the slick lighting design, which works well in separating the chapters of the story as well as increasing the play’s visual aesthetic.

McCann confidently delivers some beautiful lines from an incredibly professional and well-written script following Echlin’s creative direction. With the potential to utilise the energy of the performer, music, and lighting design, the play could be developed further by adopting a more playful and experimental approach, particularly toward the latter end of the script, steering the production into new engaging alleyways of storytelling. Altogether, Looking for Giants and its important journey of self-discovery was heartfully performed, skilfully directed, and cleverly written, making for an hour at the fringe well spent.