A powerful and incredibly well-acted show
As the audience funnels in, we see a clinical white stage which is centred with a knitted box, filled with pillows. Then, in a flash, we are instantly introduced to Jess Harwick’s heavily pregnant Ally. From the offset, she blurts out her annoyances and frustrations surrounding her life and circumstances before taking us through a story of overcoming the barriers that have stopped her from embracing her innermost desires.
Harwick is remarkable in the play. She slickly gets you on the side of her character and brings life to this world we are brought into. She seamlessly embodies not just Ali, but a host of other characters in this story. Whether it is the well-meaning, neurotic and slightly useless husband, the seductive and mysterious muse or the distanced childhood friend, Harwick brings a true sense of life to them all.
Harwick’s performance is only heightened by the level of the writing, which is superb. Jess Brodie does an amazing job in taking us through the story with a deft hand. The exploration of pregnancy and sexuality is beautifully crafted, honest and does not shy away from the bleak moments that are true of all things in life. This is a journey, and you want to join it through to its somewhat haunting ending.
The production as a whole was not without some issues, and while they did not take away from the story, they almost limited it. The staging design was striking, but the clinical white surrounds left very little for the actor to work with beyond the cushioned pit at the centre. Becky Minto does create an image on the stage that stays in the memory, but in doing so, leaves little for the actor to play with.
Lighting was well used by Renny Robertson for the most part and really added to the world, however there were moments of time passing, when the stage went dark, that pulled you out of the play. The powerful message almost became lost in those moments. Becky Hope-Palmer did very well in crafting this world out, but was burdened to a minimalist space, with repetitive movements almost showing the limitations that held the show back.
In saying this, the show was overall fantastic, and with some finetuning could become a tour-de-force. There are lasting images from this that will live in the heads of the audience for a long time once the house lights come back on.
Really, I just want to know what happens next.
GUSH runs until the 25th April at The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.