Poison invites the audience into the world of Rachel de Quincy and her close friends and family. Dealing with alcoholism, drugs and how life can quickly change around you, it is a play out to send a message.
From the outset there were issues with projection and at times it felt more like the cast was doing the performance for themselves rather than for an audience. It is easy to understand that some scenes are meant to be done quietly but if the dialogue can’t be heard all the way through a Fringe venue then something is wrong.
The use of Strasberg’s methods of naturalisation can excellently place a performance in the real world, but here it just didn’t work as the umms and errs used to try and create this effect felt more like the actors stumbling over lines than creating a believable characterisation. A particularly grating example was the overuse of “like” which just felt out of place on a theatre stage. In addition much of the acting around the serious topics that the show brought up felt wooden and one dimensional. Ultimately the cast never sold to the audience that problems that were happening to them were realistic or believable.
A facet that did work however was the comic relief. There were some genuinely funny moments but as these were simply meant to add depth and characterisation they were few and far between. Furthermore the music that played in between scenes was relevant and often captured the mood.
Poison attempts to be a social commentary on society today and particularly the younger members of Generation X. Unfortunately however it doesn’t teach the audience anything as they simply don’t buy into either the characters or the story.
