Another Fringe day, another single figure on a stage dissecting a “big issue of today”. But don’t let this unoriginal premise put you off Marrow, an extremely moving and gorgeously choreographed play which nearly brought me to tears more than once. This extraordinary one-man tour de force deals with the topic of LGBT violence, telling the story of one victim as he goes through rehab with tenderness, honesty and empathy.
A succession of dreamlike sequences, accompanied by fantastically slick tech.
Brian Quirk’s script is performed by Craig Macarthur by Flying Solo Productions, who is a vivid and electrifying presence on stage. As well as taking on the role of the central character, a gay man who must learn to walk and talk again following a hate crime which left him facing brain damage and physical injuries, Macarthur plays all the characters who come to his bedside and who he remembers from his life. Macarthur shifts between characters remarkably quickly, at times verging on the grotesque, but manages to never reduce them to stereotypes – from the protagonist’s worried mother, to his kindly, somewhat stern boyfriend.
The script does not allow us to find out much about these characters, but that is part of its strength. In a succession of dreamlike sequences, accompanied by fantastically slick tech, we move back and forth between present and past, fantasy and reality, with the audience left to piece together the order of events and the rights and wrongs of various characters themselves. Despite dealing with a hefty topic, the production is unpretentious and raw in approaching the issue of homophobic violence. There is no attempt to pretty anything up or to make things easier for the audience to understand; there is a genuine urgency in both the script and Macarthur’s performance.
At the show’s climactic point, Macarthur takes a pause to interact with the audience. Instead of antagonising the audience to get angry about the injustices which his character has faced, he takes the opportunity to get to know the people there and amplify the ultimate message of the show – “love not hate”. I have rarely seen a solo performer so efficiently toe the line between engaging an audience and also making them slightly uncomfortable. And rightly so – a show on this topic should be provocative.
This is solo theatre on a big topic at its finest. If you’re looking for a play which will make you think and keep you entranced by its performer, this one comes highly recommended. But maybe bring some tissues.
