THE FREEZE. Tour.

Tour

THE FREEZE
by Daniel Jamieson

Theatre Alibi on tour to 23 March 2002
Runs 1hr 15min No interval

Review Timothy Ramsden 8 March at Birmingham mac

Storytelling piece that's most memorable for some individual scenes.Here's another of Alibi's gentle storytelling pieces designed for a wide, including adult, age range. In the era of so-called 'In Yer Face' theatre, Alibi offers a gentle stroke on the arm.

Daniel Jamieson's script started out as a story, and this has prompted physical inventiveness in the production. Fire and flood are included in the scenography, and for a small-scale touring piece that's not going to mean scenic splendour, simply imaginative extravagance.

There's a new ice age, as well (cue vehemently shivering actors), though the real chill is in the characters. A woman gives birth, aided by a childless obstetrician. After elongated pregnancy pains she gives birth to a lump of ice. Children playing find a bomb, which later kills one of them, leaving the other guilty.

There's a lot of skilled observation in the three, multi-character playing performances and some humour in the piece, along with a great deal of inventiveness. But the overall metaphor of ice-age weather becomes subsumed within the frozen characters and their relationships.

This is limiting. It's a powerful, fundamental image and yet most of the action, realistic or not, could take place without the climatic conditions. So, the overarching idea melts away, leaving a series of variously amusing and touching scenes, linked to some extent through the characters but generally more vivid in their own right than as contributing to a complete vision.

Cast:
Joe Hall
Henry Hawkes
Jordan Whyte

Director: Nikki Sved
Designer: Jenny Saunt
Music: Jane Harbour/Alex Vann

2002-03-25 14:27:54