Produced by Voloz Collective
Review by Marina Funcasta

It is rare that a performance is able to simultaneously entertain and impress its audience: transporting us into a realm bound by history, and more particularly, aesthetic feel, is a complicated feat. It is even rarer that a performance is able to do this with the aid of just four performers, one musician, and a few props. Volloz collective, however, achieves this and more in this hour-and-a-half-long ‘who dunnit’.

The vitality behind this tour de force is the performers themselves. The company, consisting of Olivia Zerphy, Paul Lofferon, Emily Wheatman and Sam Rayner, the latter enacting the principal role of “Rogér”, meld themselves into a coherent whole, working at the same pace, never missing a beat, continuously aware of themselves, each other and the audience.

Even in a moment where the narrative is almost broken by the unfortunate misplacement of some sunglasses, the cast covers each other, almost like an army that has been trained by the most meticulous of sergeants – which, in this case, is the army itself. Throwing props up and around at unmissable speed, the company functions almost like a beating heart, pumping blood throughout, relentlessly. Indeed, though Sam Rayner plays the principal role, the other three cannot be said to fade into the background at all – to be sure, the constant multi-rolling edifies Rayner’s narrative in crucial ways.

The musical director, Frederick Waxman, must not go unmentioned. In a play that premises itself in the historical context of a sexy sixties spy thriller, music emerges as the key to the curation of the sly and dramatic atmosphere. Playing tunes reminiscent of Anderson or Hitchcock, the audience is literally transported. Waxman even manages to do so whilst maintaining a bit of character; unlike many other on-stage musicians, Waxman refuses to fade into the background, indulging in invisibility. Instead, his presence is recognised, even comically enthused, creating a sense of ensemble which goes unmatched by most other shows at the Fringe.