Writer/performer/producers Anoushka Cowan & Elijah Lifton bring this short play about sibling dynamics within a rich family to Camden Fringe.
2.36 centres on the Carringtons (is anyone else thinking about Dynasty?), Josh and Keira, who find themselves reconnecting in Luxembourg and dealing with some life-changing news.
While there is some potential here in the various plot threads, I found it all spread a little thin across less than an hour and left with more questions than answers.
Josh seems to have been the golden child due to being a boy, but dwells on the disappointment he feels he brought to the family firm.
Keira, with a different, absent, biological mother, has removed herself from the situation while benefitting from its privilege.
Other characters we don’t see are Keira’s boyfriend Sebastian, who seems to have a laissez-faire approach to large sums of cash, the parents and grandfather, and a woman on whom Keira fixates her fantasy of belonging.
There’s also a waitress and a bit of fourth wall breaking with a member of the audience but despite some strong bits of writing I felt it didn’t all come together yet.
Cowan plays an archetypical rich brat in Keira, reeling in her hurr and shooting out barbs at others. Lifton’s Josh is more of an enigma, a man who perhaps should have been born into a normal, not nepo, family.
The themes of jealousy, greed, fraud, and favouritism run through 2.36, while some physical work and uneasy shared scenes – directed well by Guy Rapacioli & Jessie Millson with limited props – allow us to maintain interest.
All too soon, though, we are left hanging with an ending that left me thinking ‘is that it?’. 2.36 needs to be fleshed out and developed a bit more to become the play it wants to be.
2.5 stars.
2.36 has now finished its run but do keep an eye on the work of this new company, Marigold Productions, to see where the show goes next.
Image credit: Keyden Lucas
i loved every minute of this play. brilliantly performed. Two young writers showing incredible promise. I was really transported to Luxembourg for a 24 hours. Don’t know what you’re talking about
That’s your opinion. This is mine! I never said they didn’t show promise.
I think you are not being fair in your summary. I think the subplots added to the tension. Yes some of them could be fleshed out but the electrifying acting between the two actors had the audience and me totally engaged and wanting more. I think your 2.5 stars is mean.
I think it definitely is a case of wanting more! Not here to be ‘mean’ at all.