The East and Under Theatre company bring their latest piece to London ahead of its upcoming run at the Edinburgh Fringe, reflecting about the relativity of things and the questionable significance of life. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if this floating trial actually ends up going up.
Life is a mystery… If Madonna said it, it can only be true. Because there’s nothing she could ever get wrong. Except, perhaps, restraining herself from butchering musical theatre classics (she was fine, well, maybe not that fine…). And perhaps that meme of Heidi pushing Clara off the cliff, though hilarious should be taken more seriously – not about throwing the girl in the wheelchair (you know how amusing it is to brutally abuse handicapped people), but about what about they said about her… still getting there. What does this have to do with today’s show?, you may ask. Nothing at all (you can mind slap me now – just don’t make a mess afterwards), apart from the initial quote. I just know that my friend Anthony will be reading it and I wanted to give that b*tch a reason to suffer. Love you, bro.
As the countdown goes down to zero for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to regale us with an unlimited variety of all sorts (and by that, I do mean all sorts), the London scenes serves as the host for the tryout previews (that must have been a low blow in the capital’s ego) – providing us with boundless options of intimate theatre for those who are too cheap to book a flight to the North of the country. I’m starting to think that the stares and waves I’m getting as I write this review are not from guys checking me out… Unless, of course, fisting has become the new trend…
Enter (please, find no correlation with the last sentence) A Balloon Will Pop, a new play written by and starring Andrew MacMillan, dealing with the relativity of our existence. Staged as an university lecture, led by, in all fairness, a rather eccentric professor (not that you could find a different sort in their kind…), the piece reflects upon the significance (or lack of) of our paths – providing us with different perspectives which, though none of them unbeknownst to general audiences, still manage to provoke some thought on how little our journeys represent within the immensity of the universe; and precisely because of that, how much it should count to us to only care for the things that really matter.
Parting from a strong premise, the show presents us with an amalgam of topics which, though all of them wrapped under the same concept of “breaking the conventional mindset by questioning why we do the things we do”, still fail to convey a cohesive and, most sadly, engaging storyline. There’s no proper arc to be taken through as a viewer. And even if the purpose is to create something which resides more out of the box, the structure still feels unfinished regardless of genre or style – relying too much on comedy-sketch-type moments which, though entertaining at some points, struggle to make sufficient contribution in terms of pacing and, all in all, evolution throughout the recount.
In any case, we can still find elements that, to some extent, prevent the show from bursting its rubbery bubble (don’t get cheeky) – all of them stemming from MacMillan’s admittedly superb performing skills. Highly energetic, and flaunting enormous charisma, register and commitment, there’s no question about his talent when it comes to interpreting – boasting incredible ease at keeping an audience under his grip for basically an entire rendition; even when the material, most unfortunately, does not really play in his advantage.
A melange of ideas with enough force and fund to devise a compelling and, optimistically, transcendent jaunt, A Balloon Will Pop turns to the two essential pillars of dramatism by putting profundity and showmanship altogether and on the same level, but still hasn’t mastered the recipe to make all its ingredients blend smoothly enough. A better outline that gives both rhythm and shape will be crucial to endow the piece with the missing helium that would allow it to finally soar – and sever the string that, as of now, attaches it too hard to the draft state thay, wistfully, it still looks to be at.
A Balloon Will Pop will play at the Ediburgh Fringe from 2 to 10 August. Tickets are available on the following link.