Paul T Davies reviews Dazzling at Space@ Niddery Street as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.
DazzlingSpace @ Niddery Street4 Stars Book Tickets A very topical monologue that reflects life for many young people, caught in dead-end survival jobs, suppressing creativity, finding love and the intensity of friendship. Alex lives is an unkept room, she and her flatmate, Jan, are cool and close, and, on a night out, they both fall in love with Fiona. Alex has struggled with alcoholism but Jan has kept her on the wagon. When Fiona breaks off the relationship, Alex spirals out of control after quitting her job. Charlotte Scott -Haynes is wonderful as Alex, holding the audience in the story, bringing the unseen characters to life, impressively handling the transitions of mood with skill. There is an anxiety attack that is highly realistic, and Holly Sewell's script is well-paced and reveals different aspects of Alex with perfect placing. It's a show that sings with quiet loneliness and tenderness, beautifully directed by Viv Wang and well worth catching.
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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