Back-stabbing, egos, coffee. Everything you’d expect in a play set in a 21st century office where the stakes are high. Puke, compassion and patisseries… maybe not.
A solid effort all round with special commendation to writer and director Daisy Jo Lucas.
That’s the beauty of Fat Cat, a play that you might expect to be able to predict the action. Conversely it surprises along the way with some sharp plot turns in an intelligently written, twisty, script.
The plot centres on an exciting, career-changing job available in the Shanghai office of a multi-national corporation. Gunning for the role are three very different characters.
There’s Anna, the young, inexperienced but bright newcomer, played by Rachel Fletcher-Hudson. After a few nerves in an opening monologue Fletcher-Hudson settled into the role and produced a likeable character who had the audience on her side.
Her main competition, it seems, is Sadie, 13 years her senior and a ball-breakingly, powerful businesswoman, played with real naturalism and meaning, by an impressive Isabelle Defaut.
Throw Harry into the mix, played by Kyle McSporran, and the drama arrives without keeping the audience waiting. The smooth, Chelsea-boy, Harry is a character you love to hate while laughing at his jokes and McSporran produced an admirable effort although would maybe have been more effective if he had brought the audience along with him a little more.
The scenes sit nicely together, taking the action from the present, to the monologue, with some duologues thrown in for good measure, where perhaps the timing could have been a little sharper between actors.
The real strength piece lies in a robust, intelligent script which surprises at unexpected points and the creation of three distinct, recognisable characters.
Perhaps the staging could have been slightly more imaginative, although this can be forgiven within a fringe theatre piece, and the soundtrack enhanced the production nicely.
A solid effort all round with special commendation to writer and director Daisy Jo Lucas.
