Fringe Spoken Word review: Park


Spoken Word: Park ***
In a hesitant, dreamlike cameraphone black-and-white, images of a deserted Edinburgh park blur by; the stuffed-full bin, the desolately hanging flying fox, the trees and grass and open space. Over what we see, actor Sarah Magillivray reads a poetic series of descriptions of the imagined activity in this space with a smooth Scots accent.
She conjures the playing children, the frantic dog and its owner, the runner, the drinking teens, the sense of onrushing ice cream van summer. There is a beautiful, multi-generational comparison of four female walk-on characters – from small girl to elderly woman – separated by time but not by space, while the anthropomorphic gaze of the park itself observes the trails of a jet. We feel the distance between environment-bruising hurry and stillness in nature.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdPark is just one instalment of an online programme created by the Lockdown Theatre Company, a DIY, post-pandemic venture by writer, director, producer and facilitator Rohan Candappa (a former advertising executive who turned his own redundancy into a 2016 Edinburgh Fringe show) and the Edinburgh setting of this piece accentuates the whole venture’s grounding in the archetypal fringe theatre experience. Those of us lucky enough to live near one have found our local parks and green spaces becoming as familiar as our homes during lockdown, and this tender 14-minute piece accentuates the sense of contemplation we have found there. David Pollock
Lockdown Theatre Company on YouTube
A message from the Editor
Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.
With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.
Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.
Joy Yates
Editorial Director