Skip to main content

Camden Fringe Review: The Invisible Condition by Last Word Theatre at Etcetera Theatre, London

It is perhaps worth going to the theatre to be educated as much as be entertained, and the Fringe like my home grew Flash Festival seem to have a lean towards plays wishing to make a point. The Invisible Condition from Last Word Theatre is very much one of those, its theme is mental health, and perhaps more specifically the NHS approach to it.

The play itself offers us to a certain extent the two sides of treatment, we have the psychologist (Anna Demetriuo) trying to deal with a problem through observation and discussion, and then we have the psychiatrist (James Pearse) who goes by the solution of throwing tablets at the patient.

While the whole piece is very worthy and putting over a tremendously important subject, The Invisible Problem gets bogged down in too many facts and ends up being more a series of case studies than a piece of theatre. This influx of data leaves it difficult for the audience to ever create much of an emotional connection with the numerous characters that the performers bring to the stage.

This is not to say it is unconvincingly performed, as this group work well together (although Pearse does feel somewhat lacking in confidence over his lines which certainly spread concern to this audience member at least). Perhaps the strongest of the group is Eleanor Crosswell, who adds nice emotion and character into her opening eating disorder character. The early part is where this play is at its strongest before it gets stunted by too much information and lacking in character evolution.

It's a very polictical play at its core and some of the information is quite disturbing in itself. So while The Invisible Disorder means well, and it does have its moments, more clarity of characters and their development is needed if this is going to have any future success.
 ⋆⋆⋆

Performance reviewed: Friday 11th August at Etcetera Theatre, Camden Town, London

The Invisible Condition was performed during the Camden Fringe at Etcetera theatre between Wednesday 9th and Sunday 13th August.
For further details about Last Word Theatre visit their Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/lastwordcompany
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Lord of the Dance at Milton Keynes Theatre

On what was so far the hottest day of the year, and the highest in many a record book, it feels a tad evil to watch as a group of extremely talented performers bring to the stage one of the most famous and most energetic dance shows to tour. However, arriving now at Milton Keynes Theatre, as part of what is now the still rather immodestly titled 30 Years of Standing Ovations tour, Lord of the Dance remains full of energy even on the hottest of evenings in Milton Keynes. I last and first saw Lord of the Dance as part of the 25 Years of Standing Ovations tour, four years ago (yes, the sums don’t quite work), and it was every bit as spectacular as you could imagine this world-famous dance show is. Born into the world from Michael Flatley and the Riverdance spectacular that preceded it, Lord of the Dance is a simple but effective battle between good and evil and the resolution of it through dance rather than fighting. The dancing here is, as expected, exceptional, led by the Lord of the...
Read more

Review of The Play That Goes Wrong at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

It is scary to contemplate that it is almost four years since I first saw Mischief Theatre's The Play That Goes Wrong . It is no secret that on that night I enjoyed it quite a bit (and ended up on stage, but that is another story). I returned the next evening to watch it again and then stalked it down to London later that same year, which over three years later it continues its remarkable West End success story. Since my last encounter with this original, I have seen Chris Bean's ramshackle Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society create chaos on stage and television with Peter Pan Goes Wrong , mess-up Dickens' A Christmas Carol and even gatecrash BBC Radio at Christmas. This fourth encounter with the original The Play That Goes Wrong though, offers the opportunity to see it in the hands of a different cast for the first time. How can pretenders of the original creators shape up in this anarchic disaster of a play? Actually, as it turns out remarkably well. It is true that ...
Read more

Review of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Birmingham Rep

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street first appeared in this musical form in 1979. Adapted from an original play by Christopher Bond, the work was set to music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, with a book by Hugh Wheeler. It quickly became a huge success, opening on both Broadway and the West End within a year. Following Tony and Olivier wins, the show has seen revival after revival over the years, as well as a musical film starring Johnny Depp. Now, Birmingham Rep presents its own pared-back version of the show, featuring some big stars of the theatre world. So, the question is, is Sweeney Todd as razor-sharp as it once was? What is clear to all at the outset is that director Joe Murphy, also artistic director at Birmingham Rep, has assembled a remarkable and bold cast for the show. Leading as Sweeney is Ramin Karimloo, whose bio speaks for itself and is the biggest draw for this show, especially for theatres outside London. His Sweeney is a perfectly brooding affair, broken...
Read more