★★★★✰
Considering its title, it would be easy to categorise Triple Bypass: Three Ten Minute Plays About Living for Death and Dying for Life as a heavy and tragic performance. Yet this is not the case. Written by Deena M.P. Romayne, Triple Bypass consists of three ten minute plays (Seeking Dignity, Close To Black, Tango-ed Web) that range from a tense drama to a light-hearted and somewhat bizarre comedy.
The first play, Seeking Dignity, presents a difficult question to the audience: does everyone deserve the right to a peaceful death? We are introduced to Darnell (Sean Hay), who is chronically ill and posts an advert online searching for someone to help him to pass away peacefully. When a mysterious stranger (Alex Stewart) knocks on his door, he does not expect her to know his darkest secrets. Hay and Stewart work in perfect harmony to create a tense atmosphere. They tremble, with equal parts fear and anger, and the intimate venue allows the audience to see the unshed tears shining in Stewart’s eyes as she decides what to do.
Close To Black sees Amy Winehouse (Amy Conway) meeting Karen Carpenter (Stewart) outside a nightclub. Although there are almost thirty years between them, they discover their stories are incredibly similar: both women fell in love with music, but got caught up in the brutal world of show business. While we know the tragic ending to their stories, the show ends on a happy note as the women realise that they are not alone in their struggles. Not only is it an incredibly cleverly written play, it deals with a number of interesting themes, from how the media treats women, to the cut-throat nature of the music industry.
Tango-ed Web is the final play in the trilogy. Set in the Australian jungle, a suitor is trying to seduce a widow with his dance moves. It’s completely wacky, but the dose of light comedy is desperately needed to counteract the heavier subject matter of the earlier plays. Hay as the Suitor steals the show: his sheer hope and bumbling seduction attempts are hilarious. However, the placing of the play doesn’t suit the venue: for a large portion of the performance, the actors kneel in the widow’s web, and as the stage isn’t raised, the audience members in the back row cannot see much of what is going on.
Apart from the fact each play covers the theme of living and death, they aren’t three plays that you’d automatically group together, but they work. They are all very well written, and the themes are fully developed, which is impressive considering each play lasts ten minutes. In this entertaining triple bill, there’s something for everyone’s tastes.
Triple Bypass: Three Ten Minute Plays About Living for Death and Dying for Life will be performed at the Space on the Mile from 19-20 and 22-27 August as part of Edinburgh Fringe.
Words by Ellen Leslie
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