Edinburgh 2002

Fringe

Messenger
C cubed

Lydia Esler

John Messenger is sent from God… but he’s not. He’s mental… but he’s not.

John Messenger cannot remember his age, employment details or past, but the reasons for his incarceration in a psychiatric ward are explained during the play, most graphically by a vision of the woman he has killed.

She prevented his suicide mission and in exchange for this charity he stabbed her to death. Recurrent images of Messenger’s dream, involving the death of an entire train load of people, evolves by the end of the play to manifest itself in the death of patients in the ward.

The sparsely furnished set, using only two chairs and a proficient lighting design to differentiate between environments, means that the focus is given to the acting. Noticeably Elsa Mollien, playing Amy, achieves the subtlety of the human mind singing a deranged tune, her French accent adding a little extra to the discord of her mentality. Overall the cast support each other well but Mollien stands out from individuals who suffice themselves with retarding their physicality to that of a seven-year-old in order to retard their mentality.

Jane Allen fails to reconcile the infantile mentality she gives to Jenny with her nymphomaniac tendencies as she flirts around the stage playing with a turquoise ribbon and straddling John Messenger. The choice of costumes does not help to lessen the childish nature of some of the performances. Female cast members are subjected to school uniform and grey tunics while the male performers seem have just stepped out of a judo class at the local monastery.

Colin Hardy competes well attaining a constant rationality, which makes even the doctors on the ward seem a little dysfunctional. His sanity in a situation of chaotic incarceration gives him a trusting relationship with the audience. He is reassuring in suggesting that even if we are all dysfunctional we can at least converse and interact to appear rational.

Direction is obvious throughout and in most cases successful. The representational use of props in Amy’s story makes the retelling of it theatrical and heightens the intensity felt by the actress. The sexuality explored in this monologue makes the account of a murder exciting and [almost] enticing. The ethereal dream sequences disrupt the fluidity of the everyday reality as the rigid choreography of movement breaks the natural pattern of interaction. Here also the music shifts between atmospheric and indulgence in the serenity of the sequence.

Overall a clear telling of the story by a constant group of actors, complemented by the use of ethereal music and lighting.

Until 25 August: 16.20 (1hr)

Lydia Esler is a playwright with Crushed Livid Theatre. Her own play, Sympathy for a Psychopath, is showing at the Crowne Plaza Hotel until 16 August. She will be taking part in the Round Table Rumbles event on Sunday 11 August, when the theme is Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know.