The Fahrenheit Twins

Based on a book by Michael Faber
Directed by Hayley Carmichael and Paul Hunter
The Unity Theatre, October 20th - 24th 2009

Reviewed by Mari Jones

From the theatre company Told by an Idiot comes a new play called The Fahrenheit Twins, a unique production adapted from a short story of the same name by Michel Faber. It is about a brother (played by Paul Hunter) and sister (played by Hayley Carmichael) who live in the Arctic, where their parents explore the secrets of the tribes there. The siblings enjoy their isolated life, until one day something happens that will change them and make them go on a journey of discovery.

The first most striking thing about this production is its stage – a huge, completely white circular platform, complete with a slide. The two actors rotate it to show different sides and therefore different locations, a clever idea which works well. Sound effects are used to represent various actions happening, like someone walking onstage who we can’t see and someone running a bath – again an inspirational idea which allows us to fully understand what’s happening and which only works thanks to the actors’ brilliant timing. Both actors play multiple parts as well, quickly changing their costumes to play either the mother or father or the children. The actors are also very convincing in all of these roles and are utterly believable whether they are playing young or old characters.

But while this is a truly innovative production that uses stunning visuals and asks us to cleverly use our imaginations – making us feel like children again – there isn’t much to the plot and it seems to end too abruptly. There is humour in the play, but only in the slapstick performances, instead of in the dialogue which tends to be boring.

So although this production’s visuals are spectacular, there is really nothing to the story – less of a journey and more of a boring trip to nowhere. I got the feeling it’s just been made to show what they can do with the stage, which doesn’t always make for a good or entertaining play.

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