Edinburgh 2002

Fringe

Pulling
The Pleasance Courtyard and Over The Road

Stuart Simpson

Pulling takes us through what would be one ordinary Saturday night out for four young people, were it not for the threat created by a rash of unsolved murders.

The serial killer, or killers, search out and 'pull' their victims in the bars and clubs of the town, leaving their calling card behind. The two sets of friends, two men and two women, are on the pull as normal, but now everyone is a potential threat.

The director, Nevil Michaels, clearly understands what may be done in a small theatre to create the desired atmosphere. Various locations are conjured, the homes of the friends as they prepare for the night out, a bus stop, the pubs and clubs, including an inventive solution to how to get four people to represent a heaving dance floor. It is our thoughts that must deck our clubbers, carry them from bar to bar, jumping over vomit, turning the accomplishment of a Saturday night into a pint glass. If only for this the play should be seen.

The acting is solid throughout. Before you read the biographies of the actors in the programme after the show, it will be clear that those involved are seasoned performers. When much good material at the fringe is hampered by lacklustre performances, it is a joy to see how it should be done. The actors seem instinctively to be aware that everything they say should be directed to the audience. This is not an easy thing to achieve whilst acting out the most intimate conversations with another character on stage, but this is the essence of theatre, why theatre will never fall in second place behind film.

What is more, the play itself is well written and thought-out. The dialogue appears natural to each character, and the plot, while seeming at times a little contrived, carries the themes of the play well. And this is where things get interesting.

The audience is made to suspect that either set of friends may be the killers, they each have their secret plan for the evening. It will be just as they agreed, there is 'no backing out now'. After the 'pulling' has taken place (or does the verb cover the entire night?), and the four friends are back at Terry's place, the friends begin to suspect each other: painful secrets are revealed, and with it the true meaning of the evening. Instead of each being a threat to the other, we are shown that the greatest threat is to believe this and to cut yourself off from others.

To see how this is achieved in little over an hour, go and see the play.