EDINBURGH 2023: Review: THE INVISIBLE MAN, TheSpace On The Mile
A farcical take on a classic tale
When it comes to classic tales like Frankenstein or The Invisible Man, stories with such a deep history of adaptation and iconic iterations, it is a difficult task to reproduce the story for a new time and in your own original way. One such way of doing this is as a farcical comedy.
Looking around the room it seems fair to say that given the famed title and story of The Invisible Man, many who attend the show don't do much more digging than that. Expecting a more traditional retelling of the classic novel, it is clear that multiple members of the audience were shocked to find that this play included fourth wall breaks, flirty landladies and an odd number of characters with speech impediments.
A majority of the crowd most certainly knew what they were getting into, but having this unexpected atmosphere within the audience lends itself nicely to the show itself, with some portions of the productions being so silly, over the top or unexpected that you can't help but laugh.
This strange mixture of well deserved, genuinely funny laughs and laughing simply due to how ridiculous and random the whole thing is creates a sort of fever dream quality to the play that does make it an enjoyable hour of your time, even if you are wondering "why?" the entire time.
The performances are over the top and can both elevate the material and be to its detriment, with some characters distracting from certain passages of the text and others bringing it to life. Though it must be said that of the three or four performers on stage, whilst everyone is over the top and radiating zany energy there was one performer - who portrayed the "man of the road" - who felt as though they were not matching the energy of their fellow performers. Not quite playing it straight but never quite as crazy or excessive as the other actors created an uneven feeling throughout much of the scenes in which they were in.
This retelling of The Invisible Man is certainly not boring and it will get some laughs out of you but ultimately it leaves you wondering why? Why was the decision made to take this great story and turn it farcical? Why were some of these low brow jokes given the go ahead, why were some of these acting decisions made. The list goes on.
It is funny and everyone on stage gives the impression that they are really giving their all, but you just leave the show scratching your head.
The Invisible Man is at TheSpace On The Mile until 19 August
Reader Reviews
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