The Pensive Federation gave four writers a simple three-page script. Each reordered, reworked, and rewrote it into their own fifteen minute play. They are linked through reappearing references, and one shared prop. Each is a two-hander, performed by the same pair of actors, and all have something to say.
Within one hour we see failed love and lust, questions of mortality, the first tentative steps towards a relationship, and the bounds of friendship. The plays range from dark and tragic to comic and uplifting.
Particularly with the repeated use of the same pair of actors in all of the roles, this quartet serves as a reminder of all the paths we can choose, all of the people we might meet, and all the situations we may have to resolve. Together, the writers highlight human autonomy, and the power it affords us. They also focus on relationships, of all kinds, and explore what we can, or should be, to one another.
The director’s choice to have characters evolve from one into the next through on-stage costume changes relates one play to another nicely, almost weaving them into four parts of one whole. However, this continuity is undermined by the blackouts ending each play, which seem to deny the identification of the plays as anything other than distinct entities.
Although prop malfunctions were dealt with professionally, with only one key prop present in all four plays, it seems unfair on the actors for it to be temperamental!
The cast work well together, and achieve differentiation between their four relationships. Laura Kim is at her best in ‘Direct Action’, with delightfully bashful charms, which also stands out as a quirky, comic piece with a heart-warming ending. Neil J Byden shines throughout, with four very distinct performances, all of which are convincing. His comic timing is spot-on, and he brings an engaging energy.
Acknowledging this process, and witnessing the different directions in which the writers have taken the skeleton provided is interesting itself, but each of the short plays is capable of sustaining this interest in their own right. Viewed together they gain a certain resonance, and there are a few laughs too.
