Yas’s boyfriend Chad is gaslighting her. He’s not replying to her messages and he’s turned his Snapchat location off.
Life isn’t going how she’d like it to, so instead she writes Fan Fiction – stories based on mediaeval romances, in which she’s the beautiful princess and Chad’s the devoted prince.
Her friends’ lives aren’t going too well either, so she’s rewriting their stories too. Why suffer reality when you can escape into fiction, a place where happy ever after is guaranteed?
In Mermaids Performing Arts Fund’s Slow Burn we meet Yasmine (Ellen Rowlett), Archie (Luke Robinson) and Willa (Tess McCartney), three friends for whom the path of true love is proving far from smooth. Yasmine’s being messed about by Chad, Willa is in love with someone she’s too shy to name, and Archie absolutely loathes Damien (Struan Barker). Or does he?
This is a comedy of errors, in which no one can see the wood for the trees. Yas thinks her Fan Fiction is a way of taking back control, but all it really does is lead her down a blind alley. Chad is a two-timing toad, finally given away by his own stupidity and arrogance. Archie is ever more competitive with Damien, ‘my nemesis’, and ever more irritated by Damien’s ability to do everything, even Minecraft (apparently) better than he can. Why does Damien need to prove his superiority? Pots and kettles come to my mind…but not, it seems, to Archie’s. Meanwhile Willa is in fact the only one who knows what she wants – but she’s convinced herself she can’t have it. Yasmine thinks she can write Willa a happy reunion with her ex; isn’t that what Willa wants? Yas really is quite dim sometimes.
The world of Fan Fiction is a fast growing one, particularly in North America. It’s a fascinating phenomenon, allowing writers to put themselves or their friends into existing stories. How many of us have secretly dreamed of being married to a film star or best friends with a celebrity? It’s a short hop to imaging oneself as the hero of existing romances, sci-fi novels or even thrillers.
In Slow Burn the scales do eventually fall from the eyes of our three protagonists, and most of the characters get a happy ever after, even if it wasn’t the one they were expecting. The play relies quite heavily on fairly slapstick comedy, some of which I felt didn’t quite hit the mark, but there are some very entertaining moments too, not least the story of Heather the poorly goldfish (you’ll have to buy a ticket to find out how that ends.)
McCartney is, for me, the standout actor in the show. Her Willa Paddington (!) is witty, feisty and nuanced, and her stand-up row with her ex, Addie (Caroline Daley), is hilarious. She also benefits from some of the best lines, such as this comment re Paul Mescal;
‘Yes, I am a lesbian – but I make exceptions’
Daley is also a highlight, both as Addie and as the girl in the library/?librarian. Tom Wilson hams it up well as the awful Chad, who clearly thinks he’s God’s gift to womankind.
Given the nature of the venue, I think it is perhaps a mistake to have the characters at one point sit on the floor, as it was quite difficult to see them for a while. I also felt that some actors spoke a little too fast and swallowed their words, though I’m sure this will improve as the run continues.
Slow Burn is a piece of light entertainment. I would be interested to see it developed further, as an investigation of just why Fan Fiction is so popular, especially among 20-something women. Rewriting real life is something we all do to a certain extent, but Fan Fiction takes this to a new level, perhaps as a reaction to the dire times in which we find ourselves.
It’s actually idiot Chad – or rather, his ghetto blaster – that makes the best point here, as it bashes out Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten,
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window…
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
It seems to me (as someone most definitely not in this demographic) that too much emphasis on escape risks not only wasting the opportunities that might exist amid all the chaos, but also diluting any impetus for change. It’s a cosy retreat, but the world is still out there, and it’s a shame if young people in particular feel so powerless that they don’t even try to make both their own lives and other people’s better.
But these are questions for another time. If it’s pure entertainment you’re after, Slow Burn may well fit the bill. Younger members of the audience loved it, so who am I to argue with that? Sometimes you just need a laugh.
Slow Burn is a Mermaids Performing Arts Fund production. It is at Venue 16, Greenside @ Riddles Court, at 12.40 every day until 10th August. Tickets here.
