25/08/26

Pleasance Dome (Jack Dome), Edinburgh

Tom Brennan’s assured play depicts the ongoing relationship between a young couple, set across two entirely different timelines. Paul (Scott Fletcher) and Maggie (Claire Dargo) are teenagers when we first meet them. Paul has finally managed to get into the choir. Maggie is already an enthusiastic member – and both of them are eager to impress their charismatic choirmaster, Alan. It’s clear from the very start that he exerts a powerful hold over them.

They are both excited about those infamous camping trips he organises, where adolescents get to drink and smoke and party – though of course, you have to receive a personal invite from Alan before you can attend…

Then quite suddenly, the narrative skips forward twenty years. Paul and Maggie are now a married couple, meeting up at a posh restaurant to offer advice and encouragement to their goddaughter, who is about to tie the knot herself. But as the evening unfolds, it quickly becomes clear that Alan still has that same grip on the couple, even though they haven’t seen him in years.

Tightly directed by John Hogarth, I love the way this tale unfolds. I’m initially thrown by those abrupt switches in time but, as the story moves on, they soon fall into place and I begin to fully appreciate what this story is really about: the all-pervading menace of those questionable relationships we sometimes experience as teenagers, and the various ways in which they affect us long term. Overtone deals with themes of abuse and coercion and carries a content warning.

Having experienced such a situation in my own youth, I really relate to this story – and I understand the desperate need that both characters have to keep returning to the man who has been exploiting them for years. Both Fletcher and Dargo deliver pitch-perfect performances and I love David Spence’s simple but effective set design, the curtained backdrop that is gradually opened to reveal the full picture.

This North Wall world premiere is a play worth watching and it’s exactly the kind of project the Edinburgh Fringe was made for. There are only a few days left to catch it at the Pleasance so book your tickets now.

4.6 stars

Philip Caveney