Reviewer: Christine Stanton
Writers: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
Director: Taylor Jay
“Strong Vocal Talents”
3 / 5
Edges is a coming-of-age song cycle about finding your place in an ever-changing world. Focusing on four unnamed characters, this song cycle takes you on a dialogue free journey through their insecurities, wishes and inner thoughts all loosely based around feeling that they are on the edge.
The beauty of this body of work from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul is that each of the songs is performed with full focus, allowing the lyrics to tell each of the stories in this powerfully moving production. Director Taylor Jay adheres to the simplicity of the format by having the set solely consist of some chairs and a microphone, which works perfectly in keeping the audience’s attention on each song. Two stages are utilised throughout the performance, which helps immerse the audience further as well as provide an enjoyable amount of variety. One song in particular – ‘In Short’ is excellently staged, and features the wonderful Holly Adams weave her way through the audience as she hurls various lyrics towards people. Taylor Jay also provides simplistic visuals behind the stage such as a Facebook feed for ‘Be My Friend’, and various location style backdrops for other songs. These work well to provide an additional setting descriptive for the song – without detracting from the performances themselves.
Musical Director Ben Ward is on the piano throughout the performance and fabulously performs each song with ease. Having him visible alongside the performances ties both the lyrics and the music itself together and keeps them both at the forefront of the song cycle. The four performers Cameron Collins (Man 1), Holly Adams (Woman 1), Gareth Evans (Man 2) and Maia Gough (Woman 2) are all very talented – with impressively strong vocals. Adams in particular is fantastically expressive, characterising herself through the lyrics and creating a persona for each song. Maia Gough has incredible vocal talent – and exudes confidence on stage. The duets between Adams and Gough (‘Caitlyn and Haley’ and ‘Ready To Be Loved’) are both wonderfully performed and really ignite the audience.
This is an enjoyable 80 minutes in the beautifully intimate setting of the Phoenix Arts Club. Comedic lyrics in songs such as ‘I Hmm You’ are contrasted with others such as the emotionally strong ‘Dispensable’ to create a full range of feelings and questions to be explored.
Runs Until 21 January 2024
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