THEATRE
Showing @ Assembly Hall until 29th Aug @ 12:30
The politics of war are never simple; it’s never as easy as good versus bad. Yet, when theatre is made about the human cost of war, it often relies on the goodie, the baddie and the victim to encourage some reflection. Federer Versus Murray depicts the relationship between a married couple whose lives have been changed as a result of an on-going conflict. The play was part of Oran Mor’s 2010 A Play, A Pie and A Pint season and has since been pruned and polished for the Fringe stage.
Federer Versus Murray is set in the home of tennis-fanatic Jimmy (Dave Anderson) and his over-worked, over-tired wife (Gerda Stevenson). There’s a wholesomeness to the performance – whether that’s done through the script or the acting is uncertain – but it grasps at honesty and isn’t over-emotional. Scenes are punctuated by a saxophonist, whose melancholic melodies give a sense of nostalgia throughout. Stevenson, who also wrote the play, has cracked the balance between the characters’ complex need to preserve the past, and their innately Scottish streak that encourages them to get ‘oan wae’ it. The play invites debate on the causes and futility of war, without preaching. It’s engaging, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable.
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