‘Starts off with an interesting premise’: THE JOURNEY – Edinburgh Fringe

Pleasance (Venue 23), Edinburgh
18-27 August 2018

There is good writing here and some good ideas but it loses its way. The Journey is the story of a romance set on a lonely spaceship but it’s also a play within a play, the trials and tribulations of two actors putting on a play at the Fringe.

Written by stand up Stuart Laws, it starts off with an interesting premise, a couple in the first flush of their relationship win a trip on a spaceship – it’s a solo trip and will take the best part of a year.

At first, the couple is still in that cute phase with their own jokes and language shortcuts but the isolation – and lack of decent reading matter – inevitably begins to put a strain on the relationship. Emotional baggage is revealed and history comes back to haunt them and petty squabbles start.

The actors break the fourth wall to occasionally narrate their performances and comment on how they’ve adapted to certain logistical challenges in the production. It’s amusing and cleverly blurs the lines between the two narratives leaving you guessing where one story ends and the other begins.

However, you know the cute romance phase is not going to last forever – otherwise, where would the drama be?

Rev Stan

Revstan really is a reverend (it's amazing what you can buy on the internet) but not a man (the Stan bit is a long story). By day, she is a freelance editor and copywriter; at night, she escapes into the world of theatre and has been blogging about it at theatre.revstan.com since 2007. She says: “I'll watch pretty much anything, from something performed on a stage the size of a tea tray to the West End and beyond. The only exception is musicals. Tried 'em and they just don't do anything positive for me.”