'Impossible Things Before Breakfast' is a series of staged readings of plays by a selection of leading playwrights. 'This is Water', by Scottish playwright Linda McLean, is based on a series of interviews she conducted with people whose ages ranged from twenty to sixty, when she was a Writer in Residence in New York.
Written in short monologues, the selection of people - identified only by capital letters such as "JU, female, 23" or "T, male, 40" - muse on aspects of life, death, sadness, fear, uncertainty, abject terror, trust.
Sitting on chairs, four actors - Meg Fraser, James Anthony Pearson, Nalini Chetty and Gary Lewis - each adopt the role of a variety of male and female characters. There is no continuity of theme between the monologues - we may hear of a person's specific fear and then immediately after another character's thoughts on trust. There is also no hesitation between the character's independent musings which creates a verbal staccato effect.
Directed by Stewart Laing, the actors read the parts in an extremely effective, animated way. And the idea for 'This is Water' is good - an exploration of individual's anxieties which can touch and reflect the emotions of many. But overall it is difficult to sustain interest when there is such a variety of themes' being dealt with in such pithy monologues.
Show times
18-29 August
Ticket Prices
£12