Written by Kieran Hurley & Gary McNair
Directed by Orla O’Loughlin
Review by Marina Funcasta
Watching adult performers play children is always a risk, especially with older men playing adolescents; from Willy Russel’s ‘Blood Brothers’ to Darren Barnet in ‘Never Have I Ever’, the self-awareness that comes with age and maturity is hard to shake off. The longer the age gap, the easier it is to hyperbolise the difference in characteristic expression.
Despite this, Scott Fletcher and Gavin John Wright succeed in balancing the childish tendency to overperform with genuine teenage determination. Dressed in a fluorescent Adidas tracksuit, we see Max and Stevie exist in a Y2K Glaswegian street for the majority of the play, their only set piece being a bin, which they alternate sitting on. Unafraid to interact with the audience, Stevie, in particular, performs outwards, bringing in the audience as if we were characters in their shared imagination. The Roundabout lends itself particularly well in these instances, allowing Stevie and Max to sit on the steps or pick on audience members sat the front row.
Orla O’Loughlin brilliantly marries the script, the space, and the characters in comic collisions. Using roller-blades when multi-role playing as Max’s love interest, the ease with which Jon Wright enters and exits the stage is seamless. Also wildly funny, Wright excels in the physicality of his smaller characters, especially the bully. Delivered with wit, it is nevertheless the case that the script tugs on more significant societal issues through using deceptively simple means. Indeed, finding oneself to be laughing more than anything else, the moments of intense dramatic tension stand out more, shedding light on the sticky origins of toxic masculinity while tracking its conception within the minds of prepubescent men.
Wildly Funny
VL runs at ROUNDABOUT @ Summerhall until August 26th.
Running time: Seventy minutes without interval
Photo credit – Mihaela Bodlovic
Review by Marina Funcasta (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Marina is halfway through an English literature degree at Edinburgh University, wherein she has been (considerably) involved in the drama scene: enjoying performing with their Shakespeare Company shows, but also modern takes on Arthur Miller. However, Marina’s interests are wide-ranging under the theatre genre – enjoying abstract, more contemporary takes on shows (with a keen interest in Summerhall)
