Intoxicated Honeymoon
★★★☆☆ Daring
Paradise Green in The Vault (Venue 29): Mon 11 – Sat 16 Aug 2025
Review by Erin Frances Speirs
Intoxicated Honeymoon at Paradise Green in The Vault for Week 2 of the Fringe, explores complications of grief and friendship through non-linear vignettes showcasing important moments in the breakdown of a high school friend group.
This play from Palais d’Été, written and directed by Victoria Ge, explores how grief, abuse and complicated relationships from our youth follow us throughout life, and how bottling in your true feelings leads to cycles of pain.
A scene from Intoxicated Honeymoon. Pic: Palais d’Été
Intoxicated Honeymoon centres around Zelda (Salma Balde), an artsy but contradictory woman, as many are in their youth. Darting around Zelda’s high school friend group’s lives, the play explores the aftermath of Zelda’s ex-boyfriend, Lucas’ death. Ge’s truthful writing shows relationships play out in high school, and how they are, years since they have separated from one another.
The play begins as Zelda’s best friend Esther (Lisa Gillham) explains she is pregnant and plans to be a single mother. Zelda touches on the failures of her previous relationships, discussing her disgust towards sexual acts with men. From the jump it is clear that Zelda and Esther are the real love story of Intoxicated Honeymoon, even if they keep their true feelings from one another, unable to fully understand them themselves.
Zelda’s reactions to the events that play out lead to monologues filled with both idealistic and cynical ideas. Zelda’s confusion with life and anger at the world and those who have hurt her is powerful and relatable.
tableaux
The few scenes between Zelda and Esther are quite beautiful, as they dumbfoundingly explore their feelings towards each other in a way all too familiar to any Queer feminine person. Although Zelda and Esther’s homoerotic friendship is the central point of the play, it does not give too much away to say that their ending, although beautifully created with the use of multimedia, does not feel substantial.
Ge often uses tableaux, pausing one character mid-scene while the other expresses their true emotions in a monologue. It’s a trick which works wonderfully at times but is not always effective. The text is very on-the-nose and heightened in these moments, which some actors deal with better than others.
A scene from Intoxicated Honeymoon. Pic: Palais d’Été
Balde, in particular, although powerful and confident elsewhere, struggles to find the authentically needed to portray this heightened text. The awkwardness around these lines could be seen as a choice. However, later in the play there are orchestrated awkward moments that work well. Jumping between these moments of realism and experimental rigidness can be jarring, in a way that does not feel intentional, even though it might be.
There are a surprising number of cast members in this production. The play could make use of double casting for upcoming productions as many actors are under utilised. Darcy (Esther Presslie) only appears in two scenes, albeit with brilliant stage presence, and Nico (Tatiana Kacmarska) similarly has little stage time. Kacmarska’s performance is impressive, making the most of their few given moments.
awkward hilarity
Piers Ninham as Felix shines with awkward hilarity and brilliant comedic timing, and Arran Jorgensen’s performance as Rueben is comfortable and naturalistic. Lisa Gillham plays Esther with grace and humour. There does seem to be some disconnect in the actors’ approach to the script, with some of the cast performing the monologues with rigidness, to the extent that it feels like a choice, whereas some are coming at the text from realism.
There is much delight to this brutal, bloody play. With surprising comedy throughout, especially from the supporting characters, Intoxicated Honeymoon is an enjoyable and thoughtful watch. The direction unfortunately lacks purpose and drive, and its lighting cues are often confusing. The latter could be seen as a deliberate choice, but without the intended outcome.
With more purposeful direction and stronger chemistry within the cast, Intoxicated Honeymoon could become a spectacular dive into grief, hedonism, and heartbreak. Regardless of direction, Victoria Ge’s text is daring, romantic and full of deep, interesting ideas.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
Paradise in The Vault (The Annexe ), 11 Merchant Street EH1 2QD (Venue 29).
Monday 11 – Saturday 16 August 2025.
Daily: 2.50pm.
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com.
Book here on EdFest.com.*
Instagram: @intoxicatedhoneymoon
Linktree: @intoxicatedhoneymoon2025
*affiliate link.
ENDS
