The Monster in the Hall

Sam Laydon — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:30:36 +0000

What’s the best way to write a comedy drama about a young carer in Kirkcaldy? Intersperse it with girl group harmonies of course! This lively feel-good show perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the Fringe – a nice balance between slick performance and rough-and-ready.
The performers introduce themselves before opening the show and easily slip in and out of character. The banter between them is cheerfully unforced – they all remain on stage the whole time but when their characters are not directly involved, you can see them smiling away as they watch each other. Throughout, their performances crackle with energy as they interchange between characters, songs and the past and present.
The show tells the story of Duck, a feisty sixteen-year-old who looks after her hippie MS-suffering Dad. The two of them are just about coping when faced with the intimidating double-whammy of a visit from the social services and Dad waking up blind. Naturally, this is only the beginning of their troubles, but despite touching on some serious themes, the show never loses sight of its duty to entertain, just as, despite her unusual situation, Duke is still a normal adolescent girl with all the usual crushes and awkwardness. The actors never allow the energy to let up for a moment and, in true fringe style, even make a virtue of their small cast and total absence of props.
If you want a charming piece of escapism to distract you from these gloomy rain-swept recession era times, this is for you!

4/5

Teenage Riot

Celia Philips — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:35:51 +0000

‘We can’t help it, we’re changing. We’re not kids anymore. We don’t feel like showing you everything that goes on inside. You’re kept at a distance. We don’t need to find solutions for your problems. We’re gonna have so much fun that it hurts.’
Armed with this phrase and little description, you might be led to predict a contrived performance without clarity or insight. Yet what unfolds speaks of the brutality and exhilaration of breaking through childhood and waking up to a world too crazy to comprehend. Eight teenage characters film their grievances and passions, disappointments and aspirations in a cramped wooden shed centre stage. The live feed, which often will lead you to spaces pertaining to memories, generally keeps you glued to their actions, which, despite the anarchically disobedient and provocative behaviour, surprisingly conceals maturity and wisdom. The real struggle, it seems, is not in wrestling with egotism and hormones, but questioning those accepted norms that let unacceptable societal problems thrive.
These characters are not out of control, it reasons. Not in such a way as the world around them is. If it isn’t the insurmountable pressures of a youth burdened by hurtful mantras spouted from parents and peers mouths, it might just be a rebellion against a valid threat. What unfolds on stage, in the box both real and imaginary which they are contained in, is not just a reflection of a modern struggle against insecurity and isolation. It’s a message, a slap in the face to the tired and uninspired. When once the characters spoke of apathy; purporting powerlessness, out of nowhere comes a passion to escape the seeming inevitability of responsibility and indifference in adulthood. A profound inspiration and rambunctious celebration of youth, brilliantly both directed and performed.

5/5

hairline.org.uk » Traverse Theatre

The Monster in the Hall

Teenage Riot