"It's a theatrical scam" stated a friend upon discovering that Chapter were charging £4 to watch a script held performance, " let's see how they get away with it". This exchange led us to see Michael Kelligan's latest "On The Edge" production, a revival of "Orange" by Alan Harris.
The piece is set in a Cardiff flat occupied by two brothers, Chippie & Viv who are holding Saleem hostage. This is a tit-for-tat kidnapping to mirror an Islamic group holding aid worker Susan Ross. The plan (concocted by Chippie) is to force her release or revenge her death.
As this is a play, nothing goes smoothly and this becomes a character study between the three men. With Chippie disappearing regularly for long periods a relationship begins to grow between Viv and Saleem. Gradually we understand more about each person and as the conclusion nears we are generally concerned about the outcome will reveal.
For those audience members expecting the actors to have little connection with the material or with each other this was a revelation. The script was used but mainly as a prop and this did not prevent genuine rapport between the cast. Naturally the staging was minimal but once you get used to mimed pasties ( Greggs, of course) it was barely noticed.
At the end we congratulated ourselves that for such a small sum we had witnessed a full theatrical production, so credit must go to an impeccable cast, Alan Humphries, Dean Rehman and Sule Rimi and director Michaal Kerrigan for creating such an impressive and enjoyable evening.
One criticism, though, I did find there were too many short scenes, especially as Chippie's absences were never really explained and this just disjointed the flow of the piece.
However, in these days of increasing theatre prices and certain venues only producing safe shows it was reassuring to see such a bold approach to creating theatrical events. I shall therefore eagerly await their next venture Garry Owen's " Free Folk" on December 13th.
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