Fancy a stroll on a Scottish summer evening? Follow four lost city-dwellers into the park beneath Arthur’s Seat for an intimate and enchanting play about fantasy.
“There it is: the city.” Simeon leads us to the top of a flight of stairs and points at Edinburgh spread beneath us. He is a boy lost in the city, thrilled by dreams but growing more and more disenchanted with the people he meets. He leaves us with the “captivatingly dumb” Angela, an aspiring actress who dreams of being the “Princess of IKEA.” On her quest, she encounters Andreas who tries vaguely to get her into bed but realises he is tired of “lying to little girls.” After losing his mother, Andreas quits his job and follows an old friend, Tyrone, to France. But Tyrone is in a bad way, struggling with his own relationship to the urban environment. Each character is adrift, unable to help themselves alone and incapable of reaching out to the others.
This new play about the truth and lies of living in a city is delightfully performed along the picturesque green walkways of Holyrood Park. The performances are strong, but it is the scenery that makes this play truly captivating. Performed up to four times a night, audiences are kept small to ensure intimate and often intense scenes. Though there is little closure and the characters are each left depressingly lost, these must be seen for what they are: charming and poignant vignettes.
[Natasha Long]
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