Theatre review: Being Frank, theSpace on North Bridge, Edinburgh
Being Frank, theSpace on North Bridge, Edinburgh * * *
A story of men who feel much but can’t talk about it, from a writing group at Falkirk’s Mental Health Association. Frank, Nick Blessley, is navigating Ikea, that blue and yellow hell hole, with Mike, Colin Hill, a cue for odd couple exchanges over the joys of tea lights and flat pack furniture.
As angry Frank tries to engage with his son, the voices of anxiety and depression are staged simply and effectively. There’s spirited amateur and professional performance in this piece, about cares that will touch a chord with many older men, albeit with a wooden moment or two and a few missed high Cs. Colin Hill was reviewed in his first Fringe outing in 1964, when the esteemed critic WA Darlington said he didn’t lack talent. He still doesn’t, though his charms are older now.
Until 24 August