(Demo Theatre Collective x Three Graces Theatre Company)
Venue: The Georgian House – Drawing Room
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This strikingly inspired piece from the Demo Theatre Collective pushes the boundaries of theatre performance and musical expression by intertwining the two mediums in a wholly unique way. By using their instruments as extensions of themselves, the performers are able to utilise music as a language in itself and to express deep truths about interpersonal relationships and the state of the world we live in.
Director Katie Smith’s We Just Need To Get Through This, like many shows you will see at the Fringe, has no grand sets or lavish costumes – it’s just two people in a room, trying to get you to see the world as their characters do. The two characters (Charlie and Rob) are performed exquisitely by Simone Seales and Luke Wroe respectively, with so much of the strength of their turns being in their body language and their minute facial expressions which communicate so much without uttering a word. The dialogue between the two feels natural and believable, and even when the play does stray from this, during its Climate Change infomercial segments, it is done with a self-awareness that drives at a wider point or illustrates a character’s quirks.
The plotting is stripped to bare bones too: our characters are on the cusp of a breakup when the world, quite literally, starts to end around them, but the core of the play is the interactions between Rob and Charlie rather than any big setpieces. Both the end of the relationship and the end of the world are outcomes the characters knew were coming, and yet ignored for their own reasons. The tumult of a rocky romance that should have ended a while ago is an ideal analogy for our mistreatment of the planet, and the narrative intertwines with this message perfectly.
When the characters are unable to communicate with words, they will pick up their guitar or cello and play. When they argue, their instruments sound discordant and play two different tunes. Rob and Charlie want to write a symphony, and at times they do, but then they slip back into frantic strumming and abusing their instruments. It’s an ingenious device to illustrate the breakdown of their relationship, and the two mediums of expression do almost become interchangeable. You can imagine the argument that is being expressed by the violently plucked Cello, and you can imagine the key of the chord progression of Rob’s gentle pleading with Charlie.
This is a piece that isn’t always easy to watch or listen to, but it is necessary. The message is important and how it is delivered needs to be experienced to be believed. This is what the Fringe is all about.
Dates: Aug 6-21 (20:00) (Online On-Demand on Fringe Player from 13th August)
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/we-just-need-to-get-through-this
Images: Toby Jeffries