Flame Proof (A Play, A Pie and A Pint), Traverse, Review

Rating (out of 5)
4
Show details
Company
Traverse Theatre Company
Production
Lesley Hart (writer), Andy Gray (director), Tom Saunders (light and sound), Lesley Black (photo)
Performers
Billy Mack (Buddy, Michelle Gallacher(Lyssa)
Running time
50mins

Today’s maze of social complexities is at the core of this fast paced funny piece about the result of rage when that ‘flame of pain’ fails to be extinguished after a relationship break-up.

Lyssa (Michelle Gallacher) is a spurned fiancée who has absorbed the traits of her namesake, the Greek goddess of rage and fury. Under the canopies of a marquee at stupid o’clock in the morning on the day her ex’s wedding, she is in full make and up to no good in the dungareed guise of a Health and Safety worker. Buddy (Billy Mack)is a recovering alcoholic and a guest at the same wedding. The bride is his step sister and his ex-wife will be attending with her new man. Personal anguish and rage abound as their meeting sets off sparks of hidden hurts.

After what seems like an interminable long dark silence at the start, with Lyssa (or Anne Marie as she calls herself) muttering in the dual voices of her ex Simon and his bride to be, this fast and slick wee play comes in to its own. Full of its own linguistic pyrotechnics like “I’ll have yer jaw for trinkets” and the use of swearie words that are hot enough set the heather alight, Hart’s writing keeps the audience amused and intrigued throughout. The two actors perform their parts terrifically well as they plot damage for their own diverse reasons; Lyssa to others and Buddy to himself.

Although lights made the seemingly crucial message written by Buddy on the flipchart unreadable from parts of the theatre, this was the only glaring flaw in the tightly directed piece by Andy Gray.

Will Lyssa’s payback plan match the extremes of wedding theme? (i.e. vows taken before a Mount Rushmore style ice sculpture of the bride and groom) Will she favour closure over control? Revenge may be a dish best served cold but Lesley Hart’s new play is red hot and exposes the raw emotions that can be masked by social niceties.

Tue 7 Oct – Sat 11 Oct 1pm
(additional 7pm performance on Fri, 10 Oct) £12 (includes a play, a pie and a pint of beer/125ml glass of house wine/regular glass of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, lemonade, orange juice, tea or filter coffee)

The remaining shows on this season’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint are:
Mrs Barbour's Boys by AJ Taudevin (14-18 Oct)
Squash by Martin McCormick (21 - 25 October)
Crash by Andy Duffy (28 October - 1 November)
Flying with Swans by Jack Dickson (4-8 November)