ED2014 4/5 Reviews ED2014 Theatre Reviews

Tea For Tabitha (Blanket Theatre / Free Festival)

By | Published on Wednesday 6 August 2014

Fresh from the Brighton Fringe, New Zealand company Blanket Theatre bring this intimate drama to Edinburgh, exposing the trauma of family break-ups from the inside out. Playing both parents and children, James Stephen and Jodie Ellis (also the writer) embody their characters physically and mentally, alternately capturing the petulant mannerisms of childhood and the repressed emotions of adulthood. The switches are startlingly smooth, happening mid-scene, as comic-tragic tantrums between brother and sister about dead pet spiders transform into the bitter rows of two people watching their once-joyful relationship crumble. Forced to make their own sense of matters way beyond their years, the children’s exchanges are particularly intense and upsetting. A show more than worthy of your time.

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, until 12 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Laura Gavin]

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