A tragedy of a play for all the wrong reasons
Given how golden the premise is, it’s disappointing to say the entire show fails to really capitalise on it. A suicidal woman being confronted with a robber mid attempt, has a great capacity for drama, comedy, tragedy, yet very little of all three is actually achieved.
What you expect to be an emotional highpoint of the initial confrontation turns into watching someone resembling a theatre student jump around nervously saying “I’ll get you don’t move” or something to that extent with the tone of voice you’d use to say goodbye while running for a train. I enjoyed the deadpan retorts from Angie, who really can’t be bothered with even her suicide attempt going wrong, but any comedic capacity here is wasted by muted reactions, and any drama is lost when they spend most of the first 20 minutes bickering like two friends. This pacing isn’t helped by being split into three scenes that do not flow well into each other and acts as a total drain for any emotional intensity that is built up.
There are a few things to praise here however, the set and costumes are nothing extraordinary but sell the vision of Agnes’ carefully planned suicide. There is a beautifully haunting and melancholy scene to finish the story, with no dialogue and only the backing soundtrack of Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’, finishing on a haunting yet hopeful image befitting of a much better play. It is an incredibly powerful final scene, that feels truly unique and born out of a strong creative vision that is lacking from much of the play. However there is little more that isn’t mediocre at best or disappointing at worst.
The basic premise is a ripe tree fit for plunder, whether this confrontation gives birth to comedy, tragedy, drama or all three is up to the writers but it seemingly struggles to hit any consistently. It is suffering an identity crisis; although it sits in the comedy and dark comedy categories, it fails to make you laugh except in fleeting moments. The narrative structure and writing don’t allow us to build on their relationship or become more intimate with the characters beyond the exposition.
The only tragedy I really care about is how a brilliant premise has been squandered.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/armed-robbery-and-suicidal-intent