Theatre Review: This Much by John Fitzpatrick, performed by Moving Dust

I am aware that my timeliness is terrible. I saw this show eight months ago, I wrote this review eight months ago, I found it again tonight.  
I saw it at Edinburgh, and it's now playing at Soho Theatre as part of the Pride festival. 

Title: This Much (or A Act of Violence Towards The Institution of Marriage)
Writer: John Fitzpatrick
Director: Kate Sagovsky
Performed by: Moving Dust
Cast: Lewis Hart, Simon Carroll-Jones, and James Parris
Seen at: Zoo City





Review:Gar is in a long term relationship with Antony, and they're thinking about marriage , but meets Albert on an app. This leads to a romantic drama exploring the meaning and importance of marriage.
I saw this in the programme. I loved the title and the picture and thought maybe if I have time. I then saw this being promoted on the Royal Mile- three men in wedding dresses standing on plinths- and thought, yes, I have to see this. I didn't really know about the play though.
The drama progresses well. Something's always happening, there's twists, tension and anger is mixed with lighter moments, and aside from the ending which seemed a little abrupt, it flows well.
The actors work together well, and the deepness of relationships came through physically in interacting with each other.
The direction and scene setting was brilliant. They use lightweight boxes which are stacked in various ways to create different scenes, and which hold the smaller props. I think everything there was used at least once, with varying degrees of creativity. The scene changes happen in full view, accompanied by disco music and carried out with the emotion present in the scene. I loved watching them as it added unspoken aspects to the personalities.
There's only three or four lines of seating on three sides of the stage so it's a very intimate show. It's made more so by full nudity, (unexpected for me, expected for anyone who takes note of online warnings) but the close setting was good for really feeling the emotions coming off the play. And for those, wow. It cycles through a full range of feelings and situations you find in a relationship- the excitement of meeting someone new, the ease of living together, the hurt of a betrayal, what happens next- and the closeness of the venue means you see all the effects the events have on the characters, even the really subtle ones.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a very exposed realistic play.
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