I reviewed Lost and Found for The Student at its debut last fringe, so I was excited to be invited back to see how the play has developed over the last year.
Lost and Found is a fun play about Maeve, who has invited her two English friends from university to stay with her at her home in Glasgow. The play explores friendships, the feelings at university, home lives colliding and messy nights out.
The play starts slowly, before picking up and running maybe too fast to the end. The peak of the play, and part of the reason for the play’s name, is reached quite late on and resolved too quickly. Last year, this storyline was heartwarming and touching, and left you thinking long after the end of the play. I also think it explored humanity with more heart. This year, I think these issues were not explored in quite the same depth.
There was a new story line added to Lost and Found this year that I also think was not really taken to where it could’ve been. I wouldn’t say this is necessarily a spoiler, however if you don’t want to know more specific details, skip to the next paragraph! This story line explores the relationship between Maeve and her friend Jasmine, who end up kissing when they’re drunk. Maeve expresses some confusion and doubts about this relationship and taking it further, and doesn’t tell several of her friends about it. Eventually they all find out and Maeve seems to suddenly decide that she does want a relationship with Jasmine. This added relationship seems almost like it was done as a box-ticker. If more time had been spent exploring Maeve and her emotions, this could’ve been a really powerful part of the play. But, as it is, it doesn’t really deliver.
The staging of Lost and Found worked really well. It was simple but very effective, allowing a focus to be placed on the characters and script. Some of the staging was especially innovative and made for a really fun watch.
Megan Gall, who plays Maeve, really shines in Lost and Found. She seems to play Maeve with a lot of ease and is an adept and versatile actor, who is especially good at comedic parts of the script.
Ultimately, I felt like parts of Lost and Found worked better last year. Some changes worked well, and the play was as funny and interesting as last year, but it felt like it had lost some of its heart and some of its grit.
Lost and Found is at Just the Tonic at The Caves at 6.10pm until 27 August (not 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26). Tickets are available here.
Image provided to The Student as press material.