The Wishing Well

Aug 13 2022 | By More

★★★☆☆     Good concept

The Royal Scots Club (Venue 241) : Tue 9 – Sat 13 Aug 2022
Review by Yvonne Paterson

Kate Macsween’s one act play The Wishing Well, at The Royal Scots Club for the first week of the Fringe only, accentuates the pain of losing a baby or an infant.

A feeling of emptiness and grief is established quickly, opening with the sound of a baby crying and The Woman (Kate Macsween) cradling her child. Bare foot and dressed in black McSween begins to unravel the cloth in her arms until there is nothing left to hold.

Kate Macsween as The Woman in The Wishing Well. Pic: Simon Anger

The Woman addresses the audience about her struggle to cope with her loss, never being able to move on from the grief. As a coping mechanism she has fabricated years worth of memories of her daughter.

Although there are a few stumbled lines and a lack of conviction at points, Macsween offers a heartfelt performance as she delivers her monologue, moving from story to story.

Her stories are interrupted by the chorus (Mariella Kinslar, Zoe Jordan and Morgan Matthews) The clever costume choice of having each of the girls in a different bright coloured t-shirt, depicts a rainbow leading to the wishing well.

The voices of the chorus remind the Woman that her tales are not real and entice her to approach the well and make a wish.

When the performance shifts from narrative to a movement sequence, there is a bit of lack in confidence in the dance itself. However John Ross’s choreography is playful and the ethereal music supports the dream like sequence

The concept of this production, which premiered at the StagEHd festival, is a good one and its strengths are in the visual and symbolic choices. However it doesn’t quite live up to the powerful drama it advertises itself to be.

Running time: 50 minutes (no interval)
The Royal Scots Club (Hepburn Suite), 29-31 Abercromby Place, EH3 6QE (Venue 241)
Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 August 2022
Daily: 15:30
Tickets and details: Book here.

ENDS

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