Monday, August 18, 2008

"Stolen Secrets" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Following the success of last year's "Mehndi Night" Mulberry School for Girls in London have again worked with playwright Fin Kennedy to bring a production to the Fringe. While it's undoubtedly an entertaining piece of theatre it lacks that feeling of discovering a window into a different world that "Mehndi Night" brought me. And I did miss that aspect a little.

But what we do have is a script and a number of performances so filled with energy and vitality that it's contagious. Made up of four "urban fairytales" inspired by locations and characters around the school, each has its merits but my own favourite was "Make & Mend" which featured three very strong performances. Waldorf particularly enjoyed "Mrs Jones".

Unfortunately some lines of dialogue were difficult to pick out due to a lack of volume and it's disappointing that some of the cast still appeared to suffer a shortage of confidence at the end of the show's run. Especially considering the quality of their 'product' and the audience reception (if Saturday was anything to go by).

The set design was both clever and effective but I do wonder if it was responsible for the loss of a 'missing tale' due to time restrictions, and having read it in the Programme/Script it's a real shame as I'd love to have seen what they had planned for performing it.

But none of the flaws take away from the fact that it's a little gem of a show that you can't help but be charmed by. We'll certainly be making space in our schedule to see what they have planned for us next year.

Stolen Secrets' run at Venue 45 is now completed
Image used with permission