Ellipsis Theatre, comprised of 18-year-old A-Level students Tess Gee, Georgia Evans, and Lucy Johnstone, put on an incredibly ambitious performance that they should be highly commended for; they have written, produced, directed, choreographed, and acted in an absurdist piece of theatre that asks one of the biggest questions of them all: is there a God?
I can’t emphasise enough how impressive the breadth and depth of this show is. The question is approached through a series of different characters; the girls move in and out of all these with impeccable physicality. First they are the Grace sisters, searching for the man with no face; then they are children confused as to why their parents spend so long reading stories in the room with all the benches; suddenly they are men and finally they are old. The piece has been rehearsed to perfection, with not a single mistake or even a step or movement out of synchronisation. Their timing is spot on as they explore the impossibility of getting answers to all of our questions and the way in which religion can create conflict, whilst simultaneously opening your eyes.
The set is church-like with rows of seats, candles, and Bibles that the girls flick through frantically in their desperate search for answers. Are you there God? Are you going to help us? Why did you allow this to happen? The script is incredibly intelligent and well-developed, full of thought-provoking lines and shocking moments. In their red dresses, identical hairdos, and marks on their hands are reminiscent of stigmata, but in fact join to form a question mark; the girls displayed a huge consideration for the details of their production.
So many questions are asked in Ellipsis that leave you with your mind spinning. All three girls are wonderful actors who have devised an exceptional piece of theatre by themselves. Johnstone’s parents, who sat next to me in the audience, told me Ellipsis had first been performed to A-Level examiners who told them they absolutely had to bring their show to the wider audience of the Fringe. I’m not surprised; they must have been blown away.
