Wonderfools is a Scottish theatre company that has moved from strength to strength, solidify itself as one of the most exciting, invigorating performing bodies right now. Oran is their contribution to this year’s festival, in association with the Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the Pleasance, and it’s a very strong contribution indeed.
Inspired by the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, Owen Sutcliffe wrote Oran as a modern twist to this everlasting Greek tragedy. We follow Oran as he journeys into the underworld to bring his recently deceased best friend back into to the living world. It’s a fresh and clever take as it grapples with twenty first century themes like social media, while keeping timeless themes such as shame and retribution at its forefront. Its lyrical style is wonderful, even if the dramatic arc could use some tweaking and tightening.
Robbie Gordon is explosive and dynamic in his portrayal of both Oran and Hades and works extremely well with the audience. The sound and lighting tech, that Gordon operates himself from a table on stage, work against him in the show. Many times, throughout the production, it felt like Gordan was splitting his focus between the audience and the tech. And when using the mic and a voice altering software to voice Hades, he became difficult to understand, the sound too loud and the tech standing in Gordon’s way.
Despite these fallbacks, there is still much to celebrate in this show. Sutcliffe’s writing is beautiful and poignant whilst Gordon’s commitment and intensity shines through. It can be disappointing when not everything lines up, but on the fringe circuit, less can oftentimes be more.
Oran is on at the Baby Grand, Pleasance Courtyard from July 31st to August 25th at 15:15
Buy tickets here.
Image provided by Pleasance Press release.