Tidal Theatre
Every now and again at the Edinburgh Fringe, I walk into a production genuinely unsure about what I’m about to experience.
LAUNA was one of those shows.
The premise certainly intrigued me. Following the loss of her daughter, young mother Edna must navigate the shifting terrain of grief as memories increasingly begin to consume the present. Movement, music, dialogue, puppetry and shadow-play are brought together to explore devastating loss and the question of whether we have to let go of the past in order to remain present with the living.
Reading that description beforehand, I wasn’t quite sure how LAUNA would pan out. There are a lot of theatrical ingredients being thrown into the mixture here, and productions like this can either become something incredibly special or buckle under the weight of their own ambition.
If it worked, I thought this could potentially be a star performer.
It is also Tidal Theatre’s first show of this production at the Edinburgh Fringe, which makes what they have achieved here even more impressive.
The production begins gently.
Rather than immediately explaining itself to the audience, LAUNA slowly invites you into Edna’s world. Initially there is no dialogue. Instead, acting, movement and shadow-play establish the atmosphere and begin introducing us to the story.
I’ll admit that for approximately the first 15 minutes, I wasn’t entirely convinced.
I was watching, observing and trying to understand exactly where the production was taking me. I hadn’t yet formed that emotional connection with the characters that I needed.
And then something changed.
As the dialogue developed, so did the characters and the pace of the story. Pieces began falling into place and, almost without noticing it happening, I found myself completely transported into this strange and unpredictable world.
From that point onwards, LAUNA had me.
One of the production’s greatest strengths is that I genuinely couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. There is an uncertainty running underneath the entire piece, and some very clever staging ensures that feeling never completely disappears.
Yet importantly, the production never becomes confusing simply for the sake of being clever.
There is a clear distinction between deliberately creating uncertainty and leaving an audience wondering what on earth is happening. LAUNA manages the former beautifully. The storyline flows effortlessly between moments, memories and emotions, and I always understood what was happening and when, even while remaining unsure about where the production would take me next.
That is quite an achievement.
The different theatrical techniques also complement rather than compete with one another. Movement gives way to dialogue; shadow-play creates images that conventional staging couldn’t achieve; music contributes to the emotional landscape; and the physical environment surrounding Edna becomes part of the storytelling itself.
Nothing feels included simply because somebody thought it might look impressive.
There is purpose behind it.
The cast are superb in their individual roles, but this also feels very much like an ensemble production. Everyone contributes to creating the world around Edna, and there is a precision to the performances that allows some incredibly delicate moments to breathe.
Grief is also handled intelligently.
This isn’t a production that spends its entire running time screaming its emotions at you. Some of its most effective moments are incredibly subtle. A movement, an image or something seemingly mundane can suddenly carry enormous emotional significance.
There is an almost peaceful quality to parts of LAUNA. The subtle movements, music and visual storytelling can lull you into a strange sense of calm.
And then it can make you incredibly anxious.
Particularly when a flower is suddenly thrown at you.
Yes, that happened.
That contrast is one of the reasons the production works so well. Grief isn’t presented as one continuous emotion. Peace, sadness, memory, anxiety and even moments of familiarity coexist, sometimes uncomfortably, just as they do in life.
By the end, I realised just how far the production had taken me from those uncertain opening 15 minutes.
I had gone from wondering whether LAUNA was going to work to becoming completely invested in it.
For a company coming to Fringe, Tidal Theatre have arrived with something remarkably assured. It is imaginative without becoming self-indulgent, emotionally powerful without becoming manipulative, and visually ambitious while always remembering that the story has to come first.
This is exactly the type of production I love discovering at the Fringe.
In fact, I’m going to make a prediction.
I think LAUNA could become something of a sleeper hit.
It may not necessarily be the production everybody is talking about when they first arrive in Edinburgh, but I suspect audiences will gradually discover it, tell other people about it and send them through the door.
I’m fully backing this one.
And I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if LAUNA has a life well beyond the Edinburgh Fringe. This feels like a production that could very easily turn up at a theatre near you in the future.
If it does, remember where you heard about it.
Overall Rating: ★★★★★ – 5 Stars– A beautifully crafted exploration of grief that quietly draws you in, then refuses to let go.
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/launa
About the Author
