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Alba - 5***** - One4Review

Alba – 5*****

| On 19, Aug 2014

Alba is an excellent new work from creator Finn Anderson who has written, directed and produced this production in the Fringe. Having seen an early version of ‘Streets’ a few years ago, his work has matured impressively and Alba is showing an exciting potential as a new Scottish piece with completely general appeal (yet happens to be set in Scotland).

The four professional actors are truly excellent, other than the main character they all play a multitude of people yet each character has depth and detail, even if they exist only for a few seconds. The cast also provide all of the music, sound effects and many soundscapes. I’m not a fan of conventional musicals which get turned into actor-musician shows, I rarely find they work for me. However as this has been developed and workshopped from the outset this way it works extremely well and I can’t imagine it not being done this way in the future. Everything from the (dare I say it slightly sexy) flute-phone to the toy keyboard car horn works perfectly and is a delight to watch. You won’t necessarily leave humming any tunes but the music is perfect – it works as an integral part of the piece and nothing seems superfluous. It is also very good!

The storyline and development, while nothing particularly new, feels fresh and never twee or patronising. The production is slick and clever and other than one tiny niggle which I’ve asked about (and doesn’t affect the review) I cannot fault this at all. The full house would apparently agree with me! Definately a piece to catch.

Reviewed by Alan.

theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall
1310 to 1355

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