This was a pretty good performance. The Liars’ League, a London-based company of over 100 professional actors, came all the way to Edinburgh for Hendrick’s Carnival of Knowledge. Their sell-out show took the usual format - a reading of a new short story by an up-and-coming author.
For professional actors, the pair who did the readings were rather unmemorable. Though neither were nervous and there was nothing wrong with the readings themselves; the stories were, on the whole, good choices and entertaining enough (although a couple were a little dull). However, what I expected from the actors was, perhaps, a little more acting - or at least a more inventive act of reading than a simple scan straight off the page. Not to sound arrogant, but I’m sure I could have done the same in my living room to much the same effect.
On the whole though, it was an entertaining and laid-back evening with some wonderful literary treats. The pair were clearly well-practised performers, knowing that the audience would benefit from a short break halfway through the show – an hour and a half is a long time to sit and listen to unknown work (thinking back now, though, we’ve all sat through performances double that length and not become fidgety. Maybe that’s a comment on the actors’ ability to entertain).
