TURN ME TO STONE. To 26 August.

Edinburgh 2007 Fringe.

TURN ME TO STONE.
by Tom Latter with material by the company.

Roman Eagle Lodge, 2Johnstone Terrace To 26 August 2007.
Thurs - Tues. 4.40pm.
Runs 55min. No interval.

TICKETS. 0131 228 7207 or Fringe BO 0131 226 0000.
www.fourthangel.co.uk
Review Thelma Good 11 August 2007.

There’s more to devising than this.
There’s been some kind of massive storm, and ten year old twins Charlotte and Morgan Stryker, with their attractive older brother Liam, have been taken in by David and his subdued partner Marianna. The twins (convincingly played by Katy Bartholomew and Nick Kay) play up their brother and David, a man who seems very uneasy with young people.

There are increasing hints that the storm happened at a time when the country was already becoming unstable. Despite mention of Police and other Shelters, Liam soon realises his search for their parents is unlikely to end happily. Another woman turns up, Caroline, she’s looking for her daughter who was staying in the area before the storm. All of them look amazingly well dressed.

David, it becomes clear, is part of some neo-fascist organisation and wants Liam to use his charm for that cause. This key character of David is not convincingly enough drawn to justify every one staying with him. It also strains belief that under his clumsy brainwashing the clearly able Liam would buckle so readily. The power of devising in theatre grows as the actor increasingly invades the character, and it is a considerable challenge when the character is malevolent, a lot easier when it is a naive child.

Overall, there is too much contrivance of events and too little understanding of such things as the extreme distress a missing daughter causes. In earlier times this scenario might have been played out against the background of a nuclear accident. Certainly, for the storm to be credible in its effects, we need more details of them than this piece from Scotland’s FourthAngel Theatre gives.

Charlotte Stryker : Katy Bartholomew.
Morgan Stryker : Nick Kay.
Liam Stryker : Richard Dennis.
David : Fred Gordon.
Marianne : Gwennie Von Einsiedel.
Caroline : Sarah Annakin.

Director : Tom Latter.

2007-08-14 01:16:48