Presented as a part of Thornhill Theatre Space's Virtual Fringe Festival, Theatre Off-Kilter presented a series of 5 short monologues which together they were called, "Waiting: A Pandemic Play".
"Self-Sacrifice" came first. Written by Jill Ellen Summerville and performed by Keira Vinson we are shown a slice of a telephone call in which our protagonist is complaining to her doctor that she has, since isolating because of her mother-in-law's ill health, not been able to go out and be seen with her collection of purses.. she is obsessed with purses.
Following this was "It's Fine, Everything's Fine", which was written and performed by Colton Wendell Weiss. He chats about being concerned about his partner, a flight attendant, who is now not working due to the lockdown, and so there is no money coming in to the flat; and whilst his ex-teachers post stupid uninformed memes online, all he can do is supprt his boyfriend as best he can.
"Back" is next; written and performed by D J Davis. Perhaps this is the most interesting and mature of the five pieces. The filming is a little offputting, and am uncertain why it needed to blackout and have elements of a scare / horror film inbuilt into the montage; however the monologue itself and the issues it raised were sympathetically related and well acted. A young black man is being interviewed by the police. It is New York and it is during the pandemic. Raising awareness for the treatment of black people in America, Davis needs commending on his realistic and timely piece performed with passion.
Following this was "Waiting", written by Jill Ellen Summerville and performed by Kiera Vinton, this is a eulogy for her only friend, her pet dog as she awaits the arrival of a friend.
The piece finished with "Neither Here Nor There" by Cason Morgan and performed by Joe Dallacqua. This is a passionate plea to, from and by actors all over. The theatres may be closed, but the shows must go on!
The 5 monologues are all so very different in terms of themes and genres that putting the five together like this didn't really make much sense to me. Advertised as an eveing of new monologues yes, but to umbrella them all under the one title as a single piece, no. An interesting smorgasbord of talent and ideas.
Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 30/8/20
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