Little One
This was so eerie and psychologically disturbing. I loved it. It kept me on my toes and nervous about what was going to happen next.
It left me thinking about relationships. With the family we know and the neighbours we don’t. It made me think about hat it would be like to be raised alongside a psychopath, and the damage that could do. It also left me with questions about love, and whether someone who is deeply psychologically disturbed can truly feel it.
Despite how abnormal and difficult the sister is, the actress did an excellent job of bringing her to life and making you question what was going on inside her head. Opposite her, the male actor played the “straight man” to her madness extremely well. He exuded a kindness while displaying the anger and frustration his character felt more and more over the years.
The play was originally supposed to take place in a condo but pivoted to Puppy Sphere. The venue offered essentially the same kind of setup they had been looking for, with a living room and kitchen area that worked well for the production. It felt more immersive and intimate than a traditional stage would have been, and the play made excellent use of the space.
It was a mind blowing acting by both artists but showing conclusion to lot of unanswered questions in the play would have been nice!!!
I thought it was overall quite good.
Unfortunately, I got lost as to what actually happened. It's been happening a lot to me this fringe. What the tape recording meant, the degree to which Claire was involved with the neighbours....
Overall though, I enjoyed the performance. The shadows in the beginning, the middle in which the dynamic of the siblings and their contrasts and IMO similarities come out. The older child being saddled with a whopping amount of responsibility and the parallel story of the neighbours. I even liked the spattering of occasional humor.
But I just didn't understand the resolution and so ultimately this will be forgettable as there isn't any gut punch to remember.
It also didn't help that as the performance occurred, a lot of revving occurred outside near the venue from motorcycles/supped up cars. They unfortunately had a hand in 'stealing the show'. Of course, not the play's fault so take my rating with a grain of salt. Still glad I saw it but am missing something that the 5 star raters got.
Cassandra Davey's NNNNN (!!) review of Little One from NEXT Magazine.
10/10, no notes. One of the best things I've ever seen at Fringe, and hands down my favourite this year. I don't want to say too much about it because you really should just go experience it for yourself. Wayne Burns and Izzi Nagel are stars. If you're sensitive, highly recommend you read the trigger warnings. I have no triggers and I'm not squeamish, and there were even times I felt the need to avert my eyes (extremely complimentary).
Highly recommended, as long as you like heavy and disturbing things. Extremely well written and performed.
We enjoyed Little one. The acting was superb. They made great use of the setting. I enjoyed the movement of the audience as the story progressed with the shadow puppets in the beginning.
Definitely has trigger warnings for some. Read the warnings and use care.
Glad to see young(er) #TheaTO artists are keen to remount writer Hannah Moscovitch's ("The Vampire Lestat" on AMC) dark early work; director Alice Fox Lundy & actors Izzi Nagel & Wayne Burns were teens when this thriller regarding traumatized adopted siblings debuted. Still disturbing & poetic!