Revu Love and Freindship [sic]
“Love and Freindship [sic]” Poster
Fun and rather funny. A good time watching Jane Austen’s Love & Freindship [sic]
The works of Jane Austen find themselves in an interesting position: respected in their own right and yet also fertile grounds for parody and exploration. This is where the Edinburgh Rep Co comes in.
The original work itself is a comedy, one that pokes fun at and critiques the notions and culture of its own time period and The Edinburgh Rep Co double down on this with comedic timing and surprisingly effective physical comedy as well.
Through effective multi rolling and some strong performers, the team brings some real energy to the space. There is never a dull moment, and each scene based off of the epistolary text is filled with life and fun. Some highlights include a and a fantastically funny section with a bad drawing, an intentionally underplaying of a resolution near the end and a captain sweeping someone off of their feet. The story of Love and Freindship is intentionally one of convolutions and conveniences and it moves rapidly and wildly and this cast is up to the challenge, most definitely.
The full production could perhaps be improved with some smoothing of its rougher edges, at times the chaos feels far less controlled and instead, unintentional. The actors work well to bounce off of it but the piece would flow better without it and the furthermore moments of planned chaos would be even more effective. Equally, the plot itself is a double edged sword and a slowing down and clarification of what exactly is transpiring on stage would serve to help the audience follow along. Equally, the lighting and sound of the production could be better implemented and especially with sound, the volume levels adjusted.
Fundamentally, this production is fun. It may be slightly confusing, a little all over the place even, but that is part of its charm.
Tickets can be found here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/jane-austen-s-love-freindship-sic
3/5 Stars
By Ethan H.M.M
