Show two at the Camden Fringe was this short and immersive piece of physical theatre from the newly-graduated Bear Foot theatre company, who left the BRIT School of Performing Arts in Croydon in the spring.
The actors are Hannah, Olivia, Ruby and Eva. The setting is a police station. There’s a missing person, and a suggestion of foul play. A mother and wife, Ida. A daughter, Summer. A father and husband, Sam.
Opening to the four cast members with their backs to the audience, and the sound of Aretha Franklin’s A Little Prayer for You, we are pulled in to a story where all portray Ida, pulled in for questioning, then break out for flashbacks including Sam and Summer, sometimes true, sometimes false.
This is a very short show, roughly half the length of Nine, which I saw three weeks ago at the Drayton Arms in Gloucester Road. But every word, every action, every piece of physical and vocal synchronicity, every action is perfectly placed until the performers and their characters blend into one.
It’s a tale of domestic violence, of interpretation, of family, of premeditation, of violence – it’s probably not the one you imagine. It’s intense and accomplished and I look forward to seeing what these performers and their company develop next.
Together for Seven runs for the third and final time tomorrow, the 15 August, at the Etcetera Theatre.