Writer and Director: Evie Cowen
Assistant Director: Reuben Foyle
The small town of Hackton is facing a literary crisis. Levels of reading are dropping and people are having trouble telling the difference between a Penguin Classic and a Penguin Chocolate Bar. The crisis isn’t affecting everyone equally however. The decline in reading is centred around one particular demographic. Cyclists. The cause of the crisis is simple. A new train track has separated the cycle track from the library. The solution is anything but simple, and the people with the task of addressing it are anything but united in their views on what to do or, indeed, whether to do anything at all.
From this premise, Aireborne Theatre have created a superb piece of comedy that skewers local political infighting, PowerPoint presentations, wellbeing sessions, student politics, and school drama groups. Writer Evie Cowen, following up her previous Fringe hit Stuck in the Mud, demonstrates her skill at capturing the rivalries and petty jealousies that exist in any modern day office and allying it with a situation that is surreal enough to be silly but also close enough to the truth to be worryingly realistic.
As Margaret, the councillor charged with convincing her fellow councillors about the importance of literacy and the need to save the library, Evie Gibbon captures the nerdy enthusiasm and commitment to the cause that have to be part and parcel of the job. Alongside her, Megan Critchley as Vicky, the fresh out of school, former leader of the debating team, has the endless enthusiasm, positivity and lack of awareness that is guaranteed to annoy everyone within a twenty-mile radius of her. Sandra and Joe, the jaded dyed-in the wool councillors, played by Charlotte Pine and Jacob Message, barely attempt to conceal their cynicism towards the others or their lack of interest in solving the task they’ve been given. Preserving their own skin and avoiding anything that smacks of modernity in the office are the only things that get them excited. As with the other cast members, Pine and Message capture the characters to perfection.
There’s an inventiveness to the script and direction by Cowen and Reuben Foyle that show they know that good comedy needs to work visually as well as in the dialogue, and that any good plotline needs at least a couple of sub-plots bubbling under the surface to sustain it for 45 minutes or longer. They duly do this with cut away scenes of amateur chess clubs, mock school elections, and public meetings that fit with the satirical style of the show and enhance the absurdity of the main storyline.
Refreshing, funny and entertaining throughout, all the elements of this production come together to create one of the cleverest and most well-observed shows in the Fringe this year.
Runs until 24 August 2024 | Image: Contributed
Superb new writing
The Reviews Hub Score
