Reviews - Fringe 2016

Fringe 2016 Review: Anybody Else

By Susan J. Creer
Published July 19, 2016

The premise of someone searching for love is well-known. I was wondering what form the search would take in 'Anybody Else'. The promotional material indicated there were challenges in Blume's life.

The set was basic: there is a stylish couch placed centre stage which alternately stands in as a therapy couch, opera seats, sofa and Greek mountain.

The show starts with us inside Blume's head, supposedly going to a therapy but finding out his therapist has died. The show moves through an interesting concept that Blume's relationships are badly affected by his neurosis and fears.

Somehow Blume manages to channel the really dead Dr. Freud for counselling. There are many scenes involving Freud, our protagonist, his girlfriend and throughout the play, his mom, a blind Greek Oracle who happens to be dating his mom and some lemon lozenges.

Unfortunately, I found parts of this show confusing and hard to follow. There were a few scenes blocked near the couch. Sometimes, when Dr. Freud was talking I could not hear the dialogue at all with his accent and the heavy background music.

A scene with Oedipus, his mom, the Oracle was covered up with storm-like sound effects. When Remy morphed into Dr. Freud on the airplane, I had to figure out what had happened and I am still wondering about the lemon lozenges. Perhaps small body mics would be helpful for the actors, or reducing the sound effects levels.

The play becomes does become clearer, until a further dream sequence slightly confused me. There were many laughs heard in the audience throughout the play. The audience seemed appreciative whilst pondering the positivity.

The play had some intriguing thoughts about love, familial and dating relationships, life in general and Freud.

S. J. Creer. B.A. Susan has been volunteering since she was a teen. She is a community advocate with a focus on disability and poverty concerns. Her background includes professional speaking, theatre (professional and community), writing (op/ed, blogging, Linkedin), teaching, event planning.

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