I’m so glad I added this to my schedule. This play is DENSE! I am first and foremost extremely impressed by the two actors who memorized what must’ve been dozens and dozens of pages. The back and forth was maintained at a quick clip which feels unbelievable given how many lines there were. There were no transitions. Both actors were on stage at all times, taking turns, for a little over an hour.

I love to dwell in ambiguity. It took me a hot second to understand what was happening, but once I did I was committed. The story was plenty compelling and the parallel structure was absolutely the kind of thing I love to see in a play. It did start to feel long near the end, and some tension was lost, but it’s hard to gauge what could be cut because it was going so fast that I was really just focussing on keeping up! I wanted a bit more breathing room around some of the lines to give them time to sink in. But then, the delayed reaction/processing felt appropriate for the temporal ambiguity of it all. This is the kind of play I would love to see published so I could read the script with a bit more time to chew on things.

I was likewise impressed by the development of the two characters, who were so lovingly detailed in a way that feels rare at the Fringe, where improv comedy seems to reign supreme (at least by show count). I was riveted just by getting to know these two.

The sound design was clever and just enough. I took bets with my audience partner on what we thought the sound was playing intermittently through the preshow. It returned a few more times during the show, always to decent effect. Admittedly, I didn’t pay enough attention to lighting and sound with this one because I was so focussed on the performances and dialogue.

This is a small thing, but I also loved the blocking and how the characters swapped items seamlessly. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the stuffed toy getting passed to and fro was wonderfully smooth. It certainly had to be, what with the pace of dialogue.

I don’t often want to rewatch Fringe plays, even if they’ve returned after a few years. I prefer to experience a variety of new works each year. However, this is one of the few plays from this year that I’d very much like to revisit in the future.