Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016 REVIEW – The Sister****
This is strong stuff for a Tuesday morning at 10am, but it was gripping, and deserved more than 30 people in the audience. It is probably not for everyone, but if you are at all interested in the human dynamic, and raring to go so early in the morning, then I would recommend it to you.
We are promised something ‘surreal, powerful and dark’ and it certainly delivers on all of those.
The Sister is about the changing relationships in families, sure, but it could easily have been simply about the relationship of husband and wife or the bully and the bullied alone. It certainly makes you think and realise that we all believe we stand on a platform in relation to others, but the platform can be one of shifting sands.
This room is well-suited to the play which jumps from the domestic situation of Bob and Leanne’s house (which they are apparently doing up) to the cruise ship where Terry takes Colleen on a ticket meant for his late wife.
Yes, this is a complicated tale, but one which is told with punchy, slick dialogue and very good acting. I really was involved (difficult not to be with all those forks flying around!) and found this play both mesmerising and memorable.
There are some holes in the story which you are left wondering about, and of course that means that the tale remains in your head long after you leave. You may relate to it, you may not, but that is not important. It just shows you that there are people living very different lives to your own.
Go and see it!
Dutch Kills Theatre present The Sister
Paradise at St Augustine’s, The Studio Venue 152
6-29 August 2016 at 10.10am. (1 hour 5 minutes)