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 Single White Female at Milton Keynes Theatre

The 1990s movie Single White Female was a classic pulp fiction offering of the time, off the back of films such as Fatal Attraction and released in the same year as the legendary Basic Instinct , these were the ultimate times for erotic thrillers/bunny boiler films. So, the question is: is such a genre still relevant today, and, even more so, can a theatre play succeed in transferring the theme to a new medium altogether? Allie is a recently divorced mother trying to juggle single parenting with starting her own tech company. To help with expenses, she looks for a lodger and finds Hedy, who seems like the perfect solution. However, as they get to know each other, the lines between their lives start to blur, and what seemed like an ideal setup begins to fall apart. For those familiar with the original film, there will be immediate observations of changes that adaptor Rebecca Reid has made. While lifting the entire plot from the US to the UK is obvious, developing Allie into Bella's...
Read more

Review of Friends - The Musical Parody at Milton Keynes Theatre

The One Where 2026 starts in a world of confusion. And so, 2026 is upon us and for my first trip to the theatre this year, one of my most significant reviewing challenges was to occur. Touring to Milton Keynes Theatre is Friends - The Musical Parody , based, unsurprisingly, on that little American show that ran to a few audience members for ten years. However, I confess that I was not, and have never been in that audience, never having seen a single episode of the show. However, always up for a review challenge and doing my due diligence by having a Friends superfan as my plus one, I headed to Milton Keynes with anticipation. For those unfamiliar with the show, I could say I can’t help; however, a quick review of some of the information you might need (thanks, Google and my plus one). Running for ten years between 1994 and 2004 with 236 episodes (quiz question, you are welcome), the main characters consisted of Phoebe (ditzy, writer of sad songs), Monica (in possession of an unfeasibly...
Read more

Review of Frankie Goes To Bollywood at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

There is no question that Rifco Theatre Company, the producers of Frankie Goes To Bollywood , now running at Royal & Derngate as part of a UK Tour, have come up with a cracking title for their show. However, as Bollywood descends upon Northampton, the question is, is this a gimmick title attached to a shallow show, or are we heading for Bollywood dreams? The show, unsurprisingly, follows a character named Frankie and tells the story of her dream to become a Bollywood star, a dream she shares with her best friend, Goldy. Following an opportune encounter with a famous Bollywood director, Frankie is invited to audition for his next movie, and her adventures begin. However, will the dream be the one she truly imagined? What is evident with Frankie Goes To Bollywood on stage is the love for creating a big, bold production. The staging is colourful and tries very hard to be epic, just like the Bollywood movies that it tells its story through. Unfortunately for all the boldness on offer,...
Read more