It’s quite an undertaking to perform a one person show. It’s just you out there with noone to bail you out if anything goes wrong. Having done a one woman show myself I can attest to that.
Kathryn Mincer does not just perform the show as Carly but she also wrote it.
We meet Carly as she runs onto stage and into a simple set of a table littered with recording equipment, an angle poise lamp and phones. She is clearly trying to escape from whomever is following her. The music at this point, and throughout, is a great enhancement of the emotion happening on stage.
Carly is a podcaster and she’s about to record her final episode. There are flashbacks to earlier podcasts, nicely signalled by a change of lighting, where Carly is happy and confident in her broadcasts.
I’m not going to leak any spoilers here but we soon find out that something is terribly wrong due to a conspiracy therory she has exposed in her podcast. Initially one questions if Carly really being hunted or is this just a psychotic episode?
Mincer keeps our attention throughout the fast moving production. It’s a flawless performance from her.
For me the sound was too loud at certain points – particularly when a male voice is featured. I found it distracting. I’m also confused by the fact that the police at her door speak in an American accent.
However that doesn’t take away from Kathryn Mincer’s performance or script. There are echoes of Dashieill Hammett in the writing and atmosphere. I’m looking forward to seeing more from this actor/writer whose work as a writer was acknowledged at Toronto International Women’s Film Festival, winning ‘Best Unproduced Script’ in 2022..
Venue : The Lantern Theatre, 77 St James’s St, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1PA
Fri 1st to Sun 3rd May at 7pm
Tickets : £5.00 – £7.00 plus booking fee
Box Office : 0333 666 4466
https://www.ticketsource.com/act/brighton-fringe-26-the-final-episode-by-kathryn-mincer/e-qmrazx
