Carly Durrer and Jade Harris-Tyler explore their real-life friendship in this play, captured on stage earlier this year at Theatro Technis during the Camden Fringe.
As the two friends (co-writers of the piece) meet up and work through key moments of life, utilising monologue, phone calls/texts, and some moments of physical performance, there’s a lot to digest injust under fifty minutes.
Harris-Tyler feels the more exhibitionist of the two; Durrer the louder yet more reticent. Off-kilter lighting and sound effects and short scenes bring us into the world of the two young women.
It’s a world anyone who has been through late teens and early twenties might recognise, the world of make-up, dating, trust, and secrets. It has a sense of the confessional and of the crushing doubt of the maturing adult.
The tone is often manic, but still feels believable, and when one performer is off-stage, we are treated to an insight into the truths they fail to share with each other.
Jade’s very English pragmatism and Carly’s American optimism make an interesting mix, while the language becomes less hesitant, less affected, as the play progresses.
There is a definite thread about mental health and trauma here, about owning it, talking about it, and accepting it. Trustfall aims to provoke discussions on how we cope with what life throws at us without hurting others.
When you fall, or wobble, or crash, that’s when friendship matters, and as Trustfall progresses, it becomes apparent that this is what this expressive play has been about – trusting each other, being yourself, opening up, not hiding.
And perhaps, at the end, it is just about understanding each other, in silence.
Trustfall is now available for viewing on YouTube.
***.5