‘Love and Freindship!’ Edinburgh Fringe Review

‘Zara Stokes Neustadt’s script is nothing short of a wonder, which has been brought to life by Emily Browning in a way which for many would have been unimaginable.’

‘Love and Freindship!’ lives up to its promise and delivers a truly entertaining, ridiculous, fun and impressive regency romp. Evidently inspired by the cliches and tropes of loved classics, Zara Stokes Neustadt’s script is nothing short of a wonder, which has been brought to life by Emily Browning in a way which for many would have been unimaginable.

Browning must be credited for her ingenious and creative choices which brings a difficult script, predominantly reliant on narration, to life in a dynamic and clever way. Directorial use of the ensemble in particular, creates a meta relationship with the overarching storyline and the performance of the narrator’s tale. Although occasionally difficult to navigate, the script’s own awareness and self-assertation of its position within the world of comedy and farce reigns in all loose ends.

Elaborate plots of marriage, death, theft, and sensibility, are delivered strongly by an older Laura (Olivia Clouting) who welcomes the audience into looking back at her youth. Clouting commands the stage, and a testament to her strength as a performer is her ability to hold attention whilst her castmates undertake such dynamic performances.

As Laura laments her lavish lifestyle and first marriage the plot develops from her relationship with her husband to her new best friend Sophia. This female friendship is significant in the way it highlights Stokes Neustadt’s understanding of the world of women in such literature, often ridiculed and denied their autonomy; Love and Freindship! affords women the space to willingly claim their place in that world, for better or for worse. Sylvie Norman-Taylor and Indie Spafford, who play young Laura and Sophia, do well to embrace the eccentricity of their roles in which it must be acknowledged that for such characters, these are logical choices.

The strongest performances grounded themselves among the powerhouse which was the ensemble; in particular Matthew McConkey as Lindsay (or Fred as was the audience choice) drew attention as he perfectly balanced embracing the nature of the play whilst creating a believability in the absurd. McConkey played his role of rebellious young man with such conviction and sincerity that the audience was able to aptly appreciate the irony and genius of Stokes Neustadt’s writing, a fact occasionally lost when characters became too much of a gimmick.

The same could be said for Jo Price who played a number of characters each with a level of nuance that allowed the hilarity of the script to shine without over exertion. Congratulations must be given to all additional cast members (Oli Butler, Molly Bell, Henry Skinner and Scarlett Clarke) who worked with a level of cohesion that synchronised swimmers dream of, delivering a performance to be incredibly proud of.

As is the nature of Edinburgh Fringe shows, the cast and crew did suffer spatial and technical limitations, but Hamish Campbell must be commended on their lighting design which aided in bringing the play to life. It would be interesting to see whether going forward changes are made to accommodate a smaller space as ‘Love and Freindship!’ is deserving of a much bigger stage.

Written by Jasmine Starbuck

‘Love and Freindship!’ runs until 17th August, at Willow Studio, Greenside @ Riddle’s Court, at 13:55 daily.