The Wheel

From July 2011

The Traverse continues to make up its own rules: the Edinburgh Festival Fringe doesn't start for another week but on Thursday the Trav kicked off their festival season with a preview of The Wheel, a new work by Zinnie Harris. Always nice to get a show under your belt before the end of July.

But first a couple of thanks yous. Thank you to the five members of the press seated in the second back row who spent the entire evening using their mobile phones to light up their notepads and whispering to each other like school children. Ladies & gentlemen: just because you have a press pass around your neck doesn't mean that people behind you can't see the glow from your mobile phones nor does it prevent them from hearing you talk.

And a special thank you to the social inadequate sitting along from me who spent the final 30 minutes texting or looking at Facebook or doing their online grocery shopping. If you can't concentrate on a play for two hours you've got to wonder if a night at the theatre is really for you.

The Wheel. It has to be said that this is a 'difficult' play, hard to watch at times. In one sense it's a road story: a woman with three children in tow wanders from war zone to war zone. Some of these are obviously identifiable (Spain, Northern France, Poland, Vietnam), others just general images of man's inhumanity to man. Without giving too much away there is a hint of happy conclusion but this is dashed with the wheel a metaphor for the ever-continuing cycle of war.

I felt some of the dialogue was a bit stilted but solid performances from all involved: Catherine Walsh particularly good as the lead Beatriz & a rather unnerving portrayal of the 'girl' by Rebecca Benson.

You won't come out with a smile on your face (or you might do if you've been looking at Facebook) but well worth seeing.

The Wheel, Traverse Theatre, until 28th August