Showing @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 01 – 25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19) times vary
You may want to stock up on your favourite energy drink before checking out David Leddy‘s newest play. Long Live the Little Knife contains such a complex plot, so much rapid-fire dialogue, so many accent changes and such a veritable banquet of food for thought that you’ll definitely want your wits about you.
On the surface the story is a crime caper about two small-time con artists who take up art forgery when they get in over their heads. But in Leddy’s skilled hands, this becomes merely a vehicle to explore fakery and deception of all kinds: designer goods, the art world, personas, financial markets, gender roles, love, and indeed theatre.
To say this is dense stuff would be an understatement, but it might also make it sound considerably duller than it actually is. The boozy, boisterous husband and wife forgery team (excellently portrayed by Wendy Seager and Neil McCormack) ensure that despite the very serious issues raised by the subject matter and scenes that range from affecting to downright harrowing, great art can be funny as well as profound.
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