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The Cure

 
Louisa-Claire Dunnigan Review by Louisa-Claire Dunnigan 4 Published: 21 Aug 2010 Show Dates: 31 Dec 1969-31 Dec 1969

Jude and Dylan have been friends since school. Now at university their relationship is closer than ever, except Jude is a lesbian and everyone thinks Dylan is gay. Working on an upcoming piece of performance art, they are constantly interrupted by the disturbingly violent Joe and Dylan’s well-meaning estranged father. The intensity of Sibthorpe and Batey’s performances gives the play a vitality and raw energy, pulling the audience along at a rapid pace. Sibthorpe is exhausting to watch; the character of Jude is manic, passionate, uninhibited, and she dominates the stage, at times tenderly pleading, at others laughing brashly as she stands pantless over her friend’s face. Sometimes this intensity can become a little too much, and the audience longs for the tone to change a little. Moments of relief come in the rare scenes when Dylan is alone. Batey is the perfect match for Sibthorpe’s restlessness: calm, reserved, he is the solid centre to the piece. As both characters battle their insecurities and pretensions, we are drawn in and long for resolution.Joe is the implacable strange flatmate that everyone knows. Reminiscent of Brian from Spaced, only less endearing, Hanes gives him an unsettling intensity that prevents him from being just a peripheral character. He provides a pivotal insight into Dylan’s character when he asks ‘do you actually like me?’ – we are swung from irritation at his character to a recognition of Dylan’s patheticness and unintentional cruelty in hanging out with someone he doesn’t actually like. George Pott’s father is another excellently observed piece of characterisation, inciting both pity and irritation from the audience.The show is tight, but can sometimes veer into the over written: too clever for its own good. Existentialism in the form of a revolutionary speech by Camus is interesting, but feels close to cliched teenage angst, or a revolutionary spirit that is not quite of this century. That said, the final scene using the speech is a powerful insight into Dylan and Jude’s relationship and leaves the audience wanting more.

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The Blurb:

Habit is the enemy. Addiction is the cure. A bittersweet comedy of love, sex, pressure and performance. CUADC 'raises the bar so high that other 5-star shows look amateurish in comparison' ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). Fringe sell-out show 2008. www.addictionisthecure.co.uk