Two unlikely characters take to the stage in Mark MacNicol’s morbid insight into the extremes of love, hatred and obsession. A hooker and a doctor burden your prejudices with one of the latest chillingly intoxicating plays from MacNicoll.
Elaine McKergow’s doctor Joy seems perfectly normal, if a bit depressed, when the audience walks into the theatre to find her downing a bottle of wine and staring into space. The moment conversation begins between her and the hooker Grace, who is concerned she may be about to commit suicide, a creepy mist begins to surround your first impression of Joy’s sorrow.
Both actresses create vivid characters and work very well together, McKergow’s performance as the vengeful stalker with blood on her boots making the audience re-evaluate their values as you find yourself in the same boat as Grace, somehow going along with her insanity. Nicola Clark pulls off the hooker with a true, honest heart who sees the best in everybody and is faced with having to make a horrible decision in Serve Cold’s icy twist.
With everyone stepping into the age of facebook stalking, the word ‘stalker’ seems to have taken a new, lighter meaning, but Serve Cold explores the raw horrors that word actually holds in reality. This play is one of those that leaves you dwelling in dark silence afterwards wondering if love can ever turn as dark as Joy’s obsession with her ex. I highly recommend it for those wanting something a little heavier between the Fringe’s many comic acts.
