Fringe theatre review: pillowtalk

Theatre: pillowtalk ***

In the months when new theatre production has moved en masse from live stages to online streaming and video, a debate has begun to crystallise about what actually constitutes online theatre; namely, at which point it instead becomes a piece of film. This series of new vignettes by the young Scottish company Live Witness Theatre (uploaded every evening for the first nine days of August, and available to view in their entirety after that) illustrates precisely what the issue is by being a bit of both.

Written by Hayley Scott and directed by Keir Aitken, each episode (we’ve seen the first five) lasts for approximately five minutes, and focuses on a couple’s conversation within the confines of their home; while lockdown isn’t explicitly referenced, the accompanying material places each piece on a certain day amid this period, with links to date-specific articles and podcasts. Each piece is lockdown-lazy in pace – but not lazy in execution – and accompanied by a gentle piano soundtrack which helps to cushion some occasionally over-earnest delivery.

The theatricality of setting up two characters in conversation, whether in gentle philosophical discussion or voices-raised moments of relationship crisis, is undeniable, and yet techniques like a Fleabag-style to-camera address or gaze-directing camera movements are not strictly theatrical. Still, where these elements are blended – as when the camera follows both first episode characters into different rooms and voiceover reveries – is where the works are arguably most successful.

https://www.instagram.com/lwpillowtalk

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