3 Stars

***

There are occasions when watching a play, I get the feeling the performers are playing their characters with the utmost skill, but the play itself is on the thin side. This is one of those occasions. The play’s theme is the obsession of a teenage girl with her favourite boy band, ’Take That’. It is set in the early 1990’s when the band when breaking through to become the idols of teenage girls throughout Britain.

Catherine Skinner playing the 12 year old Helen convincingly portrays her innocence and obsession. Claire Timmins successfully pulls off the task of playing two characters, the 13 year old Lynne, Helen’s best friend, and Helen’s 30’s something year old mum. By a simple rearrangement of her T shirt, she flips effortlessly from character to character, thus keeping the action continuous.

Helen’s obsession for ‘Take That’ and Jason Orange in particular dominates her life even when her mother contracts cancer. The scenes between Helen and Lynne humorously catch the contrast between the wide-eyed innocence of Helen and the street-wise and sexually active Lynne.

The play as a whole, however, does have a definite predictability.

Reviewed by Ben

Pleasance Courtyard/The Attic: 33

3 to 29 August 2011 (not 15)

15.15 – 16.15

Fringe Programme Page Number: 301