An interesting, developing pieces that is still figuring out what it is.
Louis Utieyin brings an innovative and interesting piece of theatre to the fringe. It follows their journey of understanding their sexuality to us in the form of journal entries. Part stand up, part theatre, part poetry, it always keeps you on your toes wandering where it’ll go next.
Utieyin puts in a good performance, mainly as a reflective, fictionalised version of themself while also embodying different characters they’ve met along the way. The mother character is a particular highlight, bringing life to an all too real presence that can be loving and haunting in this exploration of queerness within Nigerian culture. It is also very informative, and this is nicely backed up by director David Hewitson. The piece packs a punch in moments and delivers some laughs along the way.
This is clearly still a work in progress, however, and deserves to be viewed in this light. It is at times confused and doesn’t fully know what it is trying to achieve. It floats between stand up and theatre throughout, but needs clearer direction in which way it will finally lean. The back and forth of form also prevents Utieyin from fully embodying their character, whick leads to a performance that needs a little but more polish.
Dealing with a smaller free venue can have its issues, and the piece attempts to work around the spacial restrictions. This makes it static in points, and could benefit from some more dynamic movement to embrace the theatricality of the piece. The sound design and use of SFX is slightly overproduced, it is reliant on these in points where no sound design is needed, and would benefit from a less is more approach in further development.
This is a piece still in its infancy, and it has plenty of potential. An interesting and engaging story that is important to be told, just needing some refinement. But a work in progress piece of theatre is very much in the spirit of the fringe, and that entirely makes it a worthy experiment to experience.
Show Listing: https://freefringe.org.uk/shows/diary-of-a-dl-trade/
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: The Carbon Lounge – Room 1
Dates: 8th – 18th August
Time: 17.55
Ticket prices: Free
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 18+ (Guideline)