Paul T Davies reviews Forget Me Nots now playing as part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2018.
Forget Me Nots Army@ The Fringe (Drill Hall). Edinburgh Fringe
19 August 2018
3 Stars
Throughout this year's Fringe, in conjunction with Summerhall, the Army are presenting a number of LGBTQ plays, an excellent initiative. Set in British occupied Iceland in the 1940s, it's the story of a young Icelandic man who falls hopelessly in love with a British soldier. This was a taboo subject then, and it is further complicated by his friendship with his female best friend and the expectation that they will marry. There were so many relationships between same sex couples that it was known as The Situation. From this intruding time of history comes this production, a fusion of movement and text that explores the three way relationship between the two men and their female friend, who understands their situation. After she weds the Icelandic man, she even has a baby by the British soldier, who, years later, gets to meet his son and be reunited with his lover. The trio of performers are very good, and the choreography and text are woven together seamlessly. Yet I felt the female role was very under developed. She speaks almost entirely through movement, and I wanted to know what she REALLY thought about The Situation. The men report her words and actions, and I felt this created an unequal triangle. The piece was also very short, and I felt it skimmed over the surface of a fascinating subject.
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Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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