Edinburgh Fringe Theatre reviews: Dear Annie, I Hate You | Deadheads | / And Her + more...

A poignant and funny play about young woman faced with the possibility there may be no tomorrow leads our critics’ latest Fringe theatre round-up

Dear Annie, I Hate You | Pic: (c) Alex Brenner

Dear Annie, I Hate You 

Zoo Playground (Venue 186)

★★★★☆

Sam Ipema was 20, soccer mad and in her third year in college, when she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Suddenly, at a time in life when the biggest decision she expected to make was where to go for Spring Break, she had to choose between potentially life-altering surgery and living with “a ticking time-bomb in the brain”. 

In this show, made in the development lab at Soho Theatre and directed by James Meteyard, she proves herself an assured performer, taking us through her early life while home video clips appear on monitors linked by LED cables to mimic the synapses of the brain. It’s slick and dynamic, poignant and funny.

And then we meet Annie (Eleanor House), the personification of the aneurysm. She enters playing a trombone, and continues to disrupt the rest of the play while Ipema tries to shout her down and wrestle her to the ground. Chaos is introduced to the ordered narrative, the measure tone reduced to bickering. And that, of course, is the point.

Meanwhile, Ipema goes on with her account as best she can, never flinching from the hard parts of the story: a panic attack in a Florida nightclub because of the forthcoming surgery, and then the surgery itself, its impact and potentially lasting consequences. While the show doesn’t go into her subsequent decision to move to London and train as an actor, it’s clear she is both talented and courageous.

I keep wondering about the decision to personify Annie. She pitches a serious autobiographical piece into something approaching farce. Given the quality of Ipema’s writing and performance, I’m troubled by the possibility that what is a good play might be an even better play without her.

Susan Mansfield

Until 25 August

Deadheads 

Assembly George Square (Venue 8)

★★★☆☆

The relationship of two sisters as they grow from children into adults is the subject of this new play by Maddie Lynes (When We Were Normal, Fringe 2022). Miriam (Maria Pointer) and Jade (Grainne Dromgoole) were close as children, particularly after their dad left, but they’ve barely seen each other since Miriam went to work in Singapore. Brought back together by their mother’s imminent remarriage, they have a lot of catching up to do.

Lynes’ writing captures well the subtle nuances of a sibling relationship: Miriam is sensitive and spiky, refusing to talk about why she’s stayed away for so long; Jade is more grounded, conciliatory, forgiving. Both performances are strong, with Dromgoole particularly captivating as younger sister.

The play is punctuated by flashbacks to childhood and, as they pack up their mother’s flat, objects from the past resurface, drawing them together through shared memories. Without being entirely clear about the source of the rift between them, it lacks dramatic tension. Nonetheless, it’s a funny, well-observed portrait, and a reminder of the importance of having space to grow and change, even if the central gardening metaphor feels a little bit contrived.

Susan Mansfield

Until 24 August

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/ And Her

C alto (Venue 40) ★★★☆☆

In 1553, 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey held the throne of England for nine days (“/ And her” comes from the succession documents of the ailing King Edward VI). Jennifer Grober’s intricate play explores the story through the eyes of her little known cousin, Jane Lumley, who was the same age and a childhood friend. Both were fiercely intelligent and well-educated, writing to one another in Latin and Greek as well as English.

Grober is very good as the lively, studious Jane Lumley, alongside Anne Whitaker who is radiant as Jane Grey and the striking Madeleine Joyce who plays the other parts. Lumley was the author of the earliest known English translation of Iphigenia at Aulis, and Grober intertwines this story with Jane Grey’s tragedy.

Telling the story through Lumley’s eyes excavates a gifted woman from the annals of history, but also poses a challenge because she is not present for many of the key events. At times overburdened with historical information, the play is most vivid when the two lively young women are together, but the pace mires when news is being conveyed by letter and explained to the audience.

Susan Mansfield

Until 25 August

VEGAS

theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45)

★★★☆☆

This new one-act comedy-drama by Louis Hadfield and Alice Roberts demonstrates an interesting clash of personalities, regions, writing and performance styles but you’re best advised to just go with it. Roberts plays Poppy, a posh Kentish girl who wakes hungover up in the bridal suite of a bed and breakfast in Slough next to her ex-boyfriend, Freddie (Hadfield), a Scouser who she’s been estranged from for months. Neither of them have a clear memory of the night before but evidence gradually emerges that they may have got married. 

It’s the sort of situation that only happens in certain types of sitcoms and this wears its influences clearly — Poppy’s Modern Family T-shirt indicates the level of rhythm her dialogue is aiming for while a Willy Russell reference from Freddie foreshadows the fact that there’ll be a serious, emotional bit before the end. Poppy and Freddie do make for an unlikely couple but they have a good, if uneasy, chemistry no doubt due to the fact that Roberts and Hadfield are best friends in real life. The set-up does stretch credulity but the script is careful to dole out information patiently as they piece together what happened — not just last night but when they were a couple. It’s a promising debut — provided you’re willing to just go with it.

Rory Ford

Until 24 August

Deluge

Summerhall (Venue 26)

★★☆☆☆

Combining movement, live music, verbatim interviews, and fictional material, Deluge follows one woman (Gabriela Flarys) as she attempts to rebuild herself in the wake of a relationship breakdown. The effect, however, yields mixed results. Theatrical elements, while compelling independently, are discordant with one another. The use of projection is particularly striking, as it shows the protagonist communicating with inanimate objects through subtitles, or her frantic efforts to preserve the family home by plugging gaps in the walls with berry conserve. But ultimately, the power of the story falls victim to its overall structure, curbed by its own creativity.

Josephine Balfour-Oatts

Until 26 August

I See My Sister

theSpace at Niddry Street (Venue 9)

★★☆☆☆

There is potential in the bones of this historical work by new Glasgow company Cutty Sark Theatre. A tale of two sisters, one with the power of ‘second sight’ who lives in fear of discovery, the other yearning for a regular family life. There’s no shortage of commitment from the performers, and the narrative poses interesting questions about familial ties and societal norms. Finding truth and believability here is a challenge, however. Small directorial errors, such as affectionately touching a face marked with an angry bruise, or slipping into the realm of melodrama, are easily fixed – as are a few plot holes in the otherwise engaging script.

Kelly Apter

Until 24 August

How Can I Help You?

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

★★☆☆☆ 

In How Can I Help You? Callum Patrick Hughes’s career, relationship history, neurodevelopment and mental health form something of a tribute band. While charming in premise, the piece proves problematic in practice, and Hughes’s identity as a people pleaser only loosely ties together his chequered romantic and professional lives. The story has all the forward-movement of a revolving door, and as Hughes turns from one partner to another, or from one low-paid service industry role to the next, the songs he sings sound the same, and those people and places he loves are never afforded the space to become particularly loveable.

Josephine Balfour-Oatts

Until 26 August