Lorna Irvine thinks the recent Fringe hit has great lead performances but comes across as 'a little trite'.
Based on the real events of 2011, in which Norwegian right-wing extremeist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people, David Greig's play is carried to the Tron Theatre on a wave of critical success, post- Traverse run at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.
Claire (Neve McIntosh) is a Daily Mail reader's nightmare: a neo-liberal lesbian priest in skinny jeans whose partner Catriona makes yurts—more Glastonbury festival than Harvest Festival. Into her comfortable, happy-clappy environment saunters The Boy (Rudi Dharmalingam), a modern-day Travis Bickle with a gun and a grudge: suddenly, the world of tea, cheesy pop songs sung by her choir and reassuring banality becomes fearful, irrevocably stained with paranoia.
The two lead performances are excellent, directed with verve by Ramin Gray, switching effortlessly between characters and flashbacks, and are ably accompanied by Glasgow's Voice of the Town Choir, who sugar the episodic exposition with harmony and occasionally spoken lines, watching helplessly as Claire's synapses start to snap.
The discord occurs when dealing with larger issues: The Boy's politics are glossed over, religious doubt alluded to rather than explored in any depth, and motives remain blurry.
Where it works best is as a satire, lampooning trial by media, middle-class complacency and pick 'n' mix spirituality (for example, one of the stand-out scenes is when Claire is sacked by her own choir for attempting Shamanic ritual in order to comprehend The Boy's actions).
As a whole, The Events is not bad at all, if a little trite—but following another week of gun-related horror in America, its compassionate nature is both (sadly) timely and necessary.
Run ended
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