LYNN FACES at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★

“a provocative piece that isn’t quite ready for primetime”

Laura Horton’s new play, Lynn Faces, is a raw take on a woman who is on the verge of turning 40, and trying to escape from a coercive relationship. For protagonist Leah, this means forming a punk rock band with two of her friends and an unknown drummer, and hiring the local bingo hall for the band’s first performance in front of an audience. The group is named Lynn Faces, after Lynn, the long suffering PA in TV’s Alan Partridge Show. It’s an engaging set up, but taken as a whole, this play fails to deliver on its initial promise.

Lynn Faces relies on the audience to know who “Lynn” is. And also to understand why a large stuffed cow might fall on top of the drummer. References to the Alan Partridge Show are littered throughout, beginning with the appearance of the band in Lynn masks, and “snazzy cardigans.” We learn that Leah, prompted by best friend Ali (vocals, keyboards) once went around with a camera asking random people to put on “Lynn faces” so she could photograph them. That’s how she met ex-partner Pete who she is attempting to exorcise by forming a punk band. If all this sounds a bit confused, that’s because it is. Lynn Faces jumps around from being a punk band with actively bad musicians and even worse songs (based, you guessed it, on catch phrases from the Alan Partridge Show), to a woman on the verge of middle age having a breakdown.

Madeleine MacMahon as Leah, Peyvand Sadeghian as Ali, and Holly Kavanagh as Shonagh are all talented actresses. Playwright Horton makes a surprise appearance on drums. She appears late in the show playing the mysterious drummer Joy, before being felled by the aforementioned cow. The team make good work of establishing their characters, often with the bare minimum of dialogue. The antics between tough talking Ali and the innocent crafter and teacher Shonagh generate enough energy to crochet Lynn Faces together when Leah’s breakdown threatens to stop the show in its tracks. But the biggest energy drain on the show is not Leah’s breakdown, and her refusal to call ex-boyfriend’s behaviour for what it is. The show lacks the raw energy of punk to drive it forward because the musicians are terrible. Even though they’re supposed to be. Without authentic punk energy, however, this show threatens to be just a patchwork of snazzy cardigans and pearls, fishnet stockings and tartan trousers. Without punk, there’s no power to fry coercive boyfriends on the spot. Pete lingers instead offstage, or as a minuscule avatar back projected with gaslighting phone texts that trigger Leah’s traumatic memories.

Lynn Faces is a provocative piece that isn’t quite ready for primetime. Sometimes one’s favourite TV show can be a distraction from the main event. Punk, on the other hand, is an instrument for reclaiming power. Even if we have to fake it. The redemptive power of punk is the real story in this show. And despite the weaknesses in the plot, Horton’s imagination shines through. With some rewriting, and some genuinely good musicians who know how to play really bad music, Lynn Faces could be a winner.

LYNN FACES at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Summerhall – Main Hall

Reviewed on 25th August 2024

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Dom Moore

LYNN FACES

LYNN FACES

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