Skip to main content

GRIDLOCK

Gilded Balloon Patter House

Four stars 

 

Alexa and Thomas used to drive each other crazy, ever since they met on a blind date in that bar where they could barely hear each other over the music. Or was that another night? Wherever and whenever it was, seven years on they are stuck in traffic in Kathryn Mincer’s short play, with the perils of couples therapy the only thing to aim for to try and alleviate the boredom. What happens instead by way of being forced to share the same space whilst getting nowhere fast is a series of sense memories of crucial moments past that defined their relationship, both good or bad. Out of this comes a reminder of how they got here, and where they may or may not go next.

 

Following a brief run in Glasgow earlier in the year, Dominique Mabille’s production of Mincer’s play gets a second outing by way of this Fringe run that once again showcases the talents of those behind the play over its forty-five minute duration. Mincer’s set of intimate exchanges between Alexa and Thomas are all too plausible in her depiction of the very different concerns of each. This is brought home in her flashback based miniature by Annika Foster as Alexa and Ibrahim Bakhait as Thomas. The pair's quiet sparring is akin to watching a series of close-ups that might form the basis of an anthology series based around the private moments of two people forced outside their comfort zone. 

 

All of which bodes well for KD Productions, the woman-led Glasgow based company behind the show. As a grassroots DIY endeavour, it is already showing ambition aplenty in terms of its approach. The situation in GRIDLOCK may be something that happens everyday, but the hint of things to come beyond the play’s parameters leaves you wanting more.

 

Until 17 Aug, 1pm.


The Herald, August 10, 2026


ends

 

 

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Billy Elliot The Musical

Edinburgh Playhouse Five stars A big National Coal Board sign looms large at the opening of Lee Hall and Elton John's decade-old musical stage version of Hall and director Stephen Daldry's hit turn of the century film. In a tale of one little boy's liberation as a dancer against the backdrop of the 1980s miners strike, however, the Durham Miners banner and the 'Save Our Community' sash held aloft matter more. It is this call to arms that forms the heart of Daldry's production, as Billy becomes a potty-mouthed beacon of hope in a situation where picket line, thin blue line and chorus line rub uneasily up against each other. Given such a context, there is bound to be some pretty grown-up stuff going on here, be it the institutionalised homophobia in Billy's village, the class war going on within it, or Billy's grieving for his dead mother that drives his every move. And, as so magnificently choreographed by Peter Darling, what moves they are. Watch...
Post a Comment
Read more

Myra Mcfadyen - An Obituary

Myra McFadyen – Actress   Born January 12th 1956; died October 18th 2024   Myra McFadyen, who has died aged 68, was an actress who brought a mercurial mix of lightness and depth to her work on stage and screen. Playwright and artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, David Greig, called McFadyen “an utterly transformative, shamanic actor who could change a room and command an audience with a blink”. Citizens’ Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill described McFadyen’s portrayal of Puck in his 2019 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London as “funny, mischievous and ultimately heartbreaking.”   For many, McFadyen will be most recognisable from Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based around ABBA songs. McFadyen spent two years on the West End in Phyllida Lloyd’s original 1999 stage production, and was in both film offshoots. Other big screen turns included Rob Roy (1995) and Our Ladies (2019), both directed by Mi...
1 comment
Read more

Losing Touch With My Mind - Psychedelia in Britain 1986-1990

DISC 1 1. THE STONE ROSES   -  Don’t Stop 2. SPACEMEN 3   -  Losing Touch With My Mind (Demo) 3. THE MODERN ART   -  Mind Train 4. 14 ICED BEARS   -  Mother Sleep 5. RED CHAIR FADEAWAY  -  Myra 6. BIFF BANG POW!   -  Five Minutes In The Life Of Greenwood Goulding 7. THE STAIRS  -  I Remember A Day 8. THE PRISONERS  -  In From The Cold 9. THE TELESCOPES   -  Everso 10. THE SEERS   -  Psych Out 11. MAGIC MUSHROOM BAND  -  You Can Be My L-S-D 12. THE HONEY SMUGGLERS  - Smokey Ice-Cream 13. THE MOONFLOWERS  -  We Dig Your Earth 14. THE SUGAR BATTLE   -  Colliding Minds 15. GOL GAPPAS   -  Albert Parker 16. PAUL ROLAND  -  In The Opium Den 17. THE THANES  -  Days Go Slowly By 18. THEE HYPNOTICS   -  Justice In Freedom (12" Version) ...
Post a Comment
Read more