Everyone lies typically, proper? Based on social-media guide Alex, we must always all be mendacity extra – the world is run by a number of the greatest liars on the market, in spite of everything. Rachel Causer’s darkly comedian play interrogates our obsession with being appreciated and the ocean of harm it might probably trigger. It begins innocently; Alex provides a filter right here, a faux gymnasium selfie there – however earlier than lengthy she’s received 27,000 followers and is hooked on the sensation. So, when her colleagues ship her off to a grief group to assist her come to phrases along with her father’s loss of life, there is just one method she will get by means of it – by mendacity.
Now that we will wholly curate the model of ourselves that we wish the web world to see, this monologue asks what occurs when self-editing is utilized to a real-life state of affairs. And carried out by the irresistible Róisín Bevan, it's a very partaking hour. Whizzing from one accent and character to the subsequent, she appears totally snug within the physicality of every new individual. Snapping from the grief group chief Tony’s hunched, overly determine again to the stiff, sarcastic Alex, she is an actor who actually understands an individual’s essence.
Although Causer’s script wants a tighter ending, and the run of occasions is hardly shocking, her dialogue is compelling. We could not hear the voice of Alex’s love curiosity, Tristan, however this lack of readability solely builds his mystique. Alex’s conversations with him are offset by the right quantity of rolled-eye asides. And the viewers is her good friend – she talks to us like she’s revealing her sordid, hidden secrets and techniques.
Directed by Liam Blain, Bevan appears at us face-on for probably the most half. She is accompanied by empty chairs that type a semi-circle resembling a gaggle assembly. It’s a really fringe setup however extra might have been carried out to take advantage of them all through.
It is a playful piece that takes the concept of an unreliable narrator and pushes it to extremes. We would not uncover who the actual Alex is, however she definitely retains you guessing.
At Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, till 29 August.
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