“Insanity is right at the heels of the characters, and there’s a captivating sense of having no idea what will happen next”
It’s monsoon season in Phoenix, Arizona. Danny’s recent divorce has landed him in a sad flat with a view of a strip club’s flashing neon sign. During the day he works as tech support in a call centre. At night he drives an Uber to make ends meet. He doesn’t sleep.
Julia kept the house and the kid in the divorce, but she has her own problems. As a struggling makeup artist, it’s not easy to support a four-year-old and an Adderall addiction. Not to mention the giant bird she keeps seeing in the backyard. As the rain increases, Danny and Julia slide further toward madness.
Lizzie Vieh’s thriller-comedy is a rich, compelling, outrageous look at two people pushed past their limits. Vieh has a delightfully wicked sense of humour. She never loses sight of the comedy even as the story descends into the darkest places. Director Kristin McCarthy Parker, along with the design team (You-Shin Chen, Sarah Johnston, and Emma Wilk), has crafted an eerie, strange, enticing tension that spirals to a frenzied pitch. Insanity is right at the heels of the characters, and there’s a captivating sense of having no idea what will happen next.
The play opens on Danny (Richard Thieriot). With nuance and wonderful comedic timing, Thieriot pulls us into Danny’s world as he struggles to cope in the aftermath of the divorce. Vieh’s monologue is frequently very funny (Danny’s attempt to buy his daughter a pet is one of the best), while also touching and insightful about how difficult it is to make human connections.
For anyone who feels frustrated hearing men talk at length about having been wronged by a woman, with no voice given to the woman in question, Vieh has your back. About halfway through the show Thieriot exits. Therese Plaehn (Julia) enters, and we get her side of the story. The Julia we’ve heard about for the first half of the show transforms from an off-stage, shallow concept (villainous ex-wife), to a three-dimensional, vibrant character in her own right. Plaehn is refreshing, vicious, and devastating as the pill-popping beauty vlogger Julia. Her tutorial videos are hilarious.
Despite a slightly awkward set change between the two acts, the switch in perspective is an excellent choice that’s hugely effective. In addition to giving us a fuller, richer version of the story, it ensures the time we spend with either character never feels long. Vieh has masterfully created two wholly distinct, vivid monologues for two strong, deeply flawed characters. They complement each other perfectly.
Monsoon Season is a wild, unexpected, sixty-minute whirlwind that will leave you buzzing from the ride. Add it to your Edinburgh Fringe list and you won’t be disappointed. This one’s a gem.
Reviewed by Addison Waite
Monsoon Season
Underbelly Cowgate until 25th August as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019
“Hitler’s Tasters is innovative and powerfully original. The whimsical blend of past and present is risky, but ultimately an effective choice.”
Hilda, Liesel, and Anna are typical teens. They love to gossip, dance, talk about boys, and gush over film stars. There is one important difference though. Their job is to taste Hitler’s food to make sure it isn’t poisoned.
Written by Michelle Kholos Brooks and directed by Sarah Norris, Hitler’s Tasters is the Mean Girls/Third Reich crossover we never knew we needed. It’s enthralling, unbelievable, and inescapably relevant. Although the play is set in 1940s Germany, and based on the real young women selected to taste Hitler’s food, Brooks and Norris tell the story with a modern spin. The girls – Hilda (MaryKathryn Kopp), Liesel (Hallie Griffin), Anna (Kaitlin Paige Longoria), and Margot (Hannah Mae Sturges) – are Gen Z: American accents, dialogue peppered with likes and oh my gods, iPhones ever-present. The concept is totally unique; Brooks’ razor sharp humour pulls laughter from an astounded audience.
With Kopp as the Regina George reminiscent ringleader, the girls braid each other’s hair, take selfies, squabble, and hope to catch a glimpse of Blondi (the Fuhrer’s dog). They discuss what an honour it is to serve the Fatherland in such an important capacity. They’re lucky… aren’t they? The more time they spend together, the more chinks begin to appear in their conditioning. Brooks uses an intuitive sense of pace to draw us into the power dynamics and drama of girl-world, enticing us to forget where we are; but the second we do, it’s mealtime again. All giggling, arguing, or daydreaming abruptly halts at the ominous sound of the guards’ approaching footsteps.
Hitler’s Tasters is innovative and powerfully original. The whimsical blend of past and present is risky, but ultimately an effective choice. “This job sucks!” Sturges whines (and perhaps no one has ever been more justified). Ashleigh Poteat (costume) deserves special commendation for clothes that are somehow seamlessly H&M meets Third Reich. Although the dialogue is a bit choppy at times, and the characterisations may not be the most sophisticated, the girls’ familiarity as Gen Z-ers is an eye-opening reminder that a society complicit in atrocity isn’t just a historical, safely distanced phenomenon. People today – people with Starbucks and Instagram – are letting it happen all over again. Brooks is clever about weaving in the modern references: “The Fuhrer is going to Make Germany Great Again!” “They’re separating children from their parents.” The urgency of this story is cutting. Its relevance stings.
Norris and the design team – Ashlee Wasmund (choreography), Christina Tang (lighting), and Carsen Joenk (sound) – expertly manage the balance between the frivolous characters and their chilling context. The lights cut as guards enter with torches. They shine the lights into the girls’ faces and upturned hands: inspection. Sequences of puppetry-like movement to a contemporary soundtrack carry them through the Russian Roulette that is their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then it’s back to celeb crushes: Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Cary Grant.
Because of the madness of the Edinburgh Festival, it’s the fate of many shows to slip from people’s memories. You’ll remember this one.
Reviewed by Addison Waite
Photography by Hunter Canning
Hitler’s Tasters
Greenside @ Infirmary Street until 24th August as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019
