‘On the Edge of Falling’ Reviewed

What happens when you realise that you feel nothing for the person you’re married to?


What happens when you realise that you feel nothing for the person you’re married to? No happiness, but no anger either. Just a kind of emptiness that’s suffocating and overpowering. An awful feeling to have, yet one that is not uncommon in many marriages.

Alexandrina Guran’s original play deals with those feelings in a wonderful and devastating way. The play tells the story of Karen (Pim Ungphakorn) and Tom (Clement Yeung), a couple who have been married for 15 years, and have a daughter, Eliza (Marcella Denby). As Eliza enjoys learning about love and all that it encompasses for the first time, Karen is forced to deal with issues in her marriage she didn’t even realise were problems until a handsome Mr. Richard (Victor Pilard) brings them up.

First meeting him at her husband’s office party, Richard seems hell-bent on swaying Karen from her marital vows. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t succeed – instead, he pushes Karen to question everything about her ‘boring’ marriage to Tom. Both partners make decisions they regret, with play ending in the middle of an intense argument between the couple, leaving the audience guessing as to how Karen and Tom resolve their issues.

The most accurate way to describe this play is with the word ‘claustrophobic’. From the moment you entered the small, dark theatre, it was as if you could feel the burdens of the couple. You could easily imagine being in Karen’s shoes, with no way of escaping this dreaded feeling, or this failing marriage.
Karen’s character is an interesting one. She is a woman who knows her self-worth and craves her independence, yet is helpless and utterly reliant on her husband. Initially, Ungphakorn seemed uncomfortable in her character but within a scene of two, she was delivering heart-breaking monologues and continued with the same energy for the remainder of the play. During a fight with Tom about their anniversary weekend, Ungphakorn developed the argument in such a natural way, with Yeung following her lead and adding to the row perfectly.

Yeung’s performance was generally quite strong, with only a few minor trip ups. Most can be attributed to nerves, such as always keeping his hands in his pockets unless indicating or gesturing. His only monologue started off slow, but once he’d built up his confidence, it really took off. There was a moment of sudden realisation, when it dawned on him how blind he’d been about his relationship with Karen. It was then that his character had truly developed.

Pilard’s character simply oozed ‘sexy bachelor’, subtly covering his devilish intentions as the antagonist. The first interaction between Karen and Richard was remarkable, with both actors getting their timings spot on. Their dramatic pauses, instead of becoming awkward as so often happens in student plays, developed into a strong sexual tension between the two characters. It is this tension that then acts as a catalyst for the rest of the play. The same happened again when the two characters met alone for a second time, which ultimately lead to a kiss that Karen quickly ends. The only complaint could be that Pilard looked up to the back of the theatre a bit too often, which took away from the naturalness of the scene.

The kiss itself was somewhat disappointing. As it was the climax of the entire play, more passion was expected. Instead, it was a prolonged peck that lasted all of two seconds. More could have been done to highlight Karen’s enjoyment of the moment, and then sudden realisation of what she had just done.

The closing scene was an argument between Tom and Karen about Karen’s unfaithfulness. Both actors had great energy, really fuelling the argument between the two in a realistic way. It was almost as if we were flies on the wall, listening in on a real-life marital breakdown.

 

Director and stage manager should both be applauded for the placement of certain props, such as Karen’s dressing table and Tom’s desk. Placed opposite each other in the couple’s bedroom, they juxtaposed perfectly. The dressing table, with perfumes and a make-up mirror, reflected Tom’s perception of Karen as a ‘trophy wife’, which Tom’s desk with his laptop highlighted how Tom is Karen’s financial crutch as she is unable to support herself.

Overall,  a formidable performance was given by all. Guran and her team should be proud of what they achieved, from the scriptwriting to the acting. The majority of issues can be put down to nerves, but even still, the play was a success.

Special thanks goes to Lightbox Creative St Andrews for the photos. For more, please visit www.lightboxcreative.m