Originally an epic narrative poem called And Within These Cobbled Streets, Rory Aaron has brought poetic style to the Edinburgh Fringe stage in one man show, This Town. We’re introduced to childhood friends, Joe and Dean, in a pub somewhere in the Midlands. We get the sense it’s one of those small, forgotten English towns full of characters with plenty of stories to tell that normally go unheard, but here, in the Bunker, Aaron offers us a few.
Dean has since moved on from this small town, having gone to university and now living in Hackney with his partner. Joe has stayed behind, and in some ways, is still living in the memories of his childhood. Aaron draws the images of this town, Joe and his family through beautiful imagistic dialogue. He is gentle in his storytelling, depicting stories of trauma, and hardship with care, authenticity and empathy. Aaron is extremely likeable, and I could feel myself shifting to the end of my seat to hear more about these lives that I know so little about, living in my own cobbled streets here in busy Edinburgh.
The direction is very understated, and each character that we’re introduced to lacks any discerning features in their portrayal. These limitations, paired with the lack of dramatic force in the writing made the play feel more like a novella than a play, which is unfortunate for this Edinburgh Fringe debut. I’m excited to see what Rory Aaron writes next, because I have a feeling that with more dramatic structure to help maintain the integrity of his storytelling will only reveal him to be one of the more exciting English writers out currently.
This Town is on at Bunker One, Pleasance Courtyard at 16:45 until 26 August
Buy tickets here.
Image provided by Pleasance Press Office