Written by The Arden Theatre's tutor Graham Lappin, 'Reliable Fictions' is a song cycle about life's relationships that could have been, had they only been written better! As Lappin states, we all create our own reliable fictions on a daily basis, our stories, the ones that matter, but always our own versions of them. Love of course takes centre stage in the vast majority of these fictions of course. In fact, my main concern with this song cycle was that for it 65 minute duration (performed without a break) it became both quite predictable and very samey. Most of the songs were slow, considerate pieces, torch songs if you will, even when the tempo was upped slightly in a couple of the more jazzier numbers, the directing and the pace remained constant, as did the performers' thought processes. We longed for a little more than a simple walk across the stage to sit on the circular dais in the centre; we ached for the character to burst into a spontaneous run rather than the predestined amble that affected them all And we hoped to hear the band strike up a really cool up-tempo piece which went just a little faster than molto allegretto. However, all that being said, the music was harmonic, tuneful, and each song individual, working well with the performer or performers chosen to sing it. I loved the full company close harmonies, in fact, when they came, the harmonies in general were lush.
