CityLife Rating
Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea
Buxton Festival Fringe
July 12, 2010
It takes all sorts to make a Fringe, so it seems appropriate that one of the main attractions at Buxton this year is Hendrick’s Horseless Carriage of Curiosities, an antique railway carriage stuffed with strange objects, including a singing cucumber, a book whose pages never stop turning and an endless supply of gin.
And there are plenty more curiosities on offer from more than 500 performances, exhibitions and events over these three weeks.
The Fringe particularly provides a valuable opportunity for new writers to cut their teeth – and a score of them are chancing their arm here. First off the blocks was Lindsay Kernahan, discovered by the young Manchester-based Organised Chaos Productions in their first call for new scripts as they search for and nurture emerging talent.
Afternoon Tea is her first staged production, so we’re in at the beginning. In the Pauper’s Pit, underneath the Old Hall Hotel, two unconnected couples – a married man and his young girlfriend, and two “ladies who lunch” – sit at separate tables over afternoon tea. Such a civilised setting, but is it?
William and Abigail (Laurence Pickford and Julie Burrow) find their saucy week-end turning sour as they learn more about each other. As Jean and Poppy, whose vacuous gossip turns out to have a sinister underlay, Celia Carron and Dianne Rimmer tend to overplay their reactions for this space.
It’s a neat idea and the writing shows that Lindsay overall has a good ear - and a sure sense of humour and irony. Emma France, directing her first production for Organised Chaos, keeps the action nicely paced as we cut between the couples, although there are several awkward moments of timing and delivery.
But it’s a promising start to a feast of curiosities old and new.
Until 25 July. Tickets £7 to £8.50 (concs available). Box office 0845 127 2190. Fringe office 01298-73461. www.buxtonfringe.org.uk.
Reviewed: Wed, 14 July, 2010
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