Richard Marsh as his self-styled character, Richard, steals the audience away from the busy and crowded public spaces of the fringe, setting his own pace.Richard had a first love. Not the most obvious partner for him with a few false starts at wooing her, but still gets the girl - well, to the honeymoon at least. This sincere and honest character relives his experience of the heart-racing highs of love, and the broken emptiness of when it all goes wrong. Brilliant wordplay and clever detail effortlessly drives Richard’s narrative and easily picks up the audience for the ride as well. His hour’s set is segmented by moments from other characters, presented through audio recording from his iPhone and as himself on microphone. The speedy poet doesn’t use the microphone when playing Richard however, it is all his own projected voice; authentic, original and fresh poetry.No tears accompany this love story, just a razor-sharp tongue and clever mind. The writing is excellent, with great detail and devotion shining out of the work. Skittles is ingenious and innovative, Marsh is able to share everything, which makes raw performance but does not cross the boundaries into material that is too personal or uncomfortable to watch. Skittles will leave you questioning why love stories haven’t been told like this before.
