Fringe Review
London Fringe
Electricity
Genre: Comedy Drama
Venue: 9-11 Longmore Street SW1V 1JH
Low Down
In a quest to create her perfect 'quiet space’ Katherine has employed a trio of builders that seem to be on a permanent go slow. With no finish date in sight, Jakey, Leo and Bizzy are into week 17 and the strain is beginning to show.
An exceptionally well crafted script by Murray Gold injects real personality into the three hapless workers, tasked with the bespoke painting and decorating job. Comedy born out of the British class divide hovers over each exchange, with a plot line intended to divide and then reverse our sympathies as first Katherine and then the obnoxious Michael enter the danger zone to view progress – or lack of it. A live, bare wire hovers over the action in a room which appears to be influenced by a host of Eastern religions and fantasy symbols, ironically promising peace and harmony.
Review
Played out in a site specific performance space, the audience are made to feel they are guests in Katherine’s home. The smell of white sprit and paint fumes set the scene even as you climb the narrow staircase to take your seat.
Identifying with Katherine’s pain and the sheer claustrophobia of sharing the same air that gobby Jakey, dopey Bizzy and long suffering Leo are breathing, gives the play an immediacy that the actors can seize on. The dialogue crackles with humour and the direction by Katie Warrens shows a keen ear and eye at work. This is a impressive debut production.
It is no surprise to learn the playwright was inspired by true events in his own life, such is the authenticity of the wit in the writing, though it would be a mistake to believe that the play comes to a predictable and inevitable conclusion. The power source is constantly and cleverly shifting, right to the very last moment.
Anthony Dunn has the dream ticket, cast as the manipulative, Jakey, ever ready to stop work and distract his colleagues with a seemingly endless supply of raucous and colourful anecdotes. This is a well judged performance which relies heavily on the double act between Dunn and Zachariah Fletcher who plays his inept son Bizzy.
Dunn’s work-shy Jakey treads a difficult line between doing little more than tutting over the paper to holding sway with energetic descriptions of past sexual escapades and a particularly riveting take of what happened when Terry had to empty his bladder on a railway line. There is a satisfying exchange with the ruthless Michael, played by Darren Godbold, who shows his more gullible side when Jakey appears to be especially astute in his judgement of the female mind.
In an ensemble piece, there can be no weak links but Fletcher's child –like expressions and gestures brought the unfortunate Bizzy to life brilliantly and is the stand out performance.
In contrast Leo, the foreman with old school work ethics, is well portrayed by Mansel David so his eventual outburst, in a bid to stay sane, is surprisingly touching.
Berri George hits the right tone to give Katherine the merest hint of impending mental breakdown and a sense of controlled hysteria, without ever overplaying her emotional hand.
Electricity delivers multiple shocks of humour, with just the right amount of dramatic tension.
Reviewed by JackBadley Fir 9th-Sat17th Sept
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