Leslie Black Photography'Look at the world, Lorna, look! Do you think I left the Orang-Utans just to watch you cry into your prune juice and gobble up my croissant? I mean, just who the fuck is this woman anyway, Lorna? Who is this fucking woman?' Read more …
Lorna and Nina haven't seen each other since a drunken wedding reception six years ago.
Whilst Lorna's been journeying through the urban jungle and reached destination housewife, Nina's been running wild in the jungles of Borneo.
Reunited over lattes and pastries, their friendship is tested to the limit and the question is asked: does civil exist in civilisation?
The piece doesn’t always convince, especially in the overly symbolic, hammer-to-crack-a-nut final scene, that relocates the action back to Borneo. But Waugh and Hoey both turn in impressive performances.
Not only does the serious subject matter sit uneasily with the comedy (once we realise what Nina is going through, our laughter seems in bad taste), but also it lacks the ring of truth.
Despite superb performances from Clare Waugh as Lorna and Denise Hoey as Nina, the play’s emotional impact is finally muted by uncertainty about whether it truly wants to explore the tragedy of its characters’ lives; or simply prefers to send them up, as fundamentally ridiculous.
In fairness, others seemed to enjoy it more than I did, but at times I do feel the Play, Pie Pint audiences can be generous to a fault.
Despite its faults however, Juicy Fruits contains enough zest in its acerbic script; and a peach of a performance from Hoey, that it still provides a lunchtime treat: but isn’t quite as ripe as it could have been.
This is good theatre, but some restraint would not have gone amiss.
A Play, a Pie and a Pint, Glasgow from Monday October 17, 2011, until Saturday October 22, 2011. More info: http://playpiepint.com
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from Tuesday October 25, 2011, until Saturday October 29, 2011. More info: www.traverse.co.uk
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