One In Four is playing at the Space @ Surgeon’s Hall and puts 4 new roommates together who are actually all aliens yet under the impression that the other three are human.
Dixon Cashwell plays the first roommate the audience encounters. He is jittery and complete uncomfortable in his human body. Cashwell plays this insane discomfort very well, portraying a being very unused to many trivial human behaviours. He often goes on longs speeches of how odd human idiosyncrasies are and how he does not understand them their emotions or even his own emotions, yet Cashwell always deals with these wordy soliloquies effortlessly.
Chandler Matkins plays the 2nd extraterrestrial housemate. He commands the stage and his voice captures the audience’s ears immediately. He also spends a remarkable amount of time lying motionless on the floor, something he is very good at.
Becky Granger is fantastic as roommate number 3. She has a lot to go through as her character and all of it feels believable. Her instant desperate need to leave the flat and go live her life as we could die at any second is so very human of her. Granger uses her ability to make an audience burst into laughter effectively in one moment of singing. Choosing any key she wants, even breaking her cast mates in the process.
Jenna Kray plays the final flatmate. Her presence brightens up the play, her “musician” human character is hilarious and she feels so comfortable on stage. Her laid back energy is nice amongst all the high strungness of the other three. Kray has a fantastic singing voice which is under utilised a little but a welcome touch in the more absurd moments here.
The direction from Connor Scully is clear and he clearly knows how to direct for comedy, however the piece overall feels disjointed and messy. This could’ve also been the writing, as ultimately nothing happens in the play. There’s even a random “stand up” routine in the middle that was insanely graphic mainly for shock factor. Which amuses at first, but ultimately falls flat as it goes on into its second and third (too many) minutes. There’s also a lot of repetition of jokes or lines said in a funny manner. Which again are funny but upon the fourth or fifth repetition just loses its original charm.
Dog Stuff are from America and this is sometimes painfully clear with the humour in display here. The group of large American teenagers surrounding me in the audience found all of it hilarious. I however was left wanting over a lot of the jokes, and left wanting ultimately for a plot.
The main theme that human behaviour is absurd and the question of how have we survived this long is a relevant one, but one that needs almost spelled out at the end rather than told through thoughtful and intelligent writing. The premise is an intriguing one and the performers do the best they can with it, but the execution leaves one wanting and probing for more. Having a show at the Edinburgh Fringe, for the most part anyway, the audience may not be as open to American humour, and shows making the perilous journey across the pond may do well to adjust their humour to match the audience likely to see the show day in and day out.
Theatre Scotland 
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