Fringe Review: LIONS, TechCube 0 at Summerhall
Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Wide Eyed Studios
“You will all die!” It feels like a threat, but when Scott R. Sheppard proclaims this looking around the audience at Tech Cube 0 in Summerhall, it amounts to more of a grand statement. A grounding of the audience in reality. This is impressive considering the bedlam that punctuates the performance of Lions from Lightning Rod Special. From careening chaos to the silence of the fear of what next, Lions is an exceptional performance of how humans cope.
In the liminal space of their almost-dying fathers, writers and performers, Sheppard and Alice Yorke take the audience on a tour de force of every emotion involved preceding a loved one’s death. From the absolute admin of it all to the memories that invade and the people who become involved along the way, Lions tells how life is turned upside down in those final moments. It is a rollicking, joyous performance that handles grief and loss deftly with the required gravity.
A huge table is laid out across the stage assembled with all the elements that make a life: record players, Christmas trees, baseball bats, files, notebooks, and all the other minutia that accumulate over time. Through clowning and occasional utmost sincerity, the lives of Sheppard and Yorke’s fathers are told through flashbacks and from their own memories. They unravel how nobody is perfect in death, least of all parents, and honour their memories with the truths of their lives.
Sheppard and Yorke are staggering in their performances. Lions is - in turn - riotous, joyful, melancholy and hopeful. As moustaches are attached and wigs donned, the linen-suit clad pair tear around the stage in masterful storytelling that doesn’t let you have even a moments rest. Using physical theatre and dynamic, clever lighting, Lions is compelling as it reveals tales of the past along with the mayhem of the present. It a whole-hearted show that makes you appreciate everything a little bit more and believe in perfect people a little bit less.
Turning death into a laughing matter is no mean feat but with tenderness, Lions is a show that searches for who we really are and who we really wanted to be. Genius comic timing and captivating, genuine writing make this double act an absolute must see.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Hannah Goldswain
Lions plays at TechCube O at Summerhall until 30 August, with further info here.