THE SPACE IN BETWEEN till 26 August

Edinburgh 2007 Fringe.

The SPACE IN BETWEEN
by Alex Marx.

The Jazz Bar, 1a Chambers St To 26 August 2007.
Every day. 5.30pm.
Runs 1hr. No interval.

TICKETS: Fringe BO 0131 226 0000.
www.thespace-inbetween.com
Review: Thelma Good 15 August 2007.

Fun interesting theatre experience.
If you’re lucky the show might start even before you enter The Jazz Bar. I was “flyered by eye” as I walked along Chambers Street; a man looked, made eye contact and smiled, again and again as I walked towards him. Then beaming broadly he came up to me and asked what I was doing for the next hour, there was this show just about to start.

He did not know I was a reviewer, but I felt such effective flyering should be rewarded so down to the cellar bar I went. And what a fun interesting theatre experience I found, one that in less assured hands would have fallen flat on its face. Seated round the bar are the audience who have ordered drinks while a pianist plays some jazz. Once the show is ready to start the bar staff go. And the theatre begins. Or is it as simple as that? At what point does theatre begin and what makes it theatre? Or is there “The Space In Between”?

In front of us three bar staff arrive and depart. There’s Mark, who’s just given up on a novel and started a play, his oldest friend Will, who’s just left drama school and discovers he’s a bit of a nihilist, and just joining them is Angela ,who also is trying to get on stage. We see them at the beginning of their shifts and at their ends, following through about a year when their relationships change and develop, relatives get sick, plays get written and love comes eventually.

With real bottles, beer taps and cleaning sprays, and chat that appears at first to be just that the borders of theatre get increasingly blurred. Some philosophy gets discussed and these three charming young characters leave eventually, like watching Cheers in the flesh. A very neat idea, well worked out by writer Alex Marx and director Tom Tuck for Scotland's Order First theatre company. It’s double cast, so I hope if you go the other team are as spot on as the ones I caught.

Will : Sam Peskin/Rupert Radcliff.
Mark : Paddy Loughman/Alex Marx.
Angela : Shaunie Brett/Bella Rowe.

Director : Tom Tuck.
Live Music : Sam Cable.

2007-08-20 09:32:34