Showing @ Underbelly, Edinburgh until Sun 25 Aug @ 20:05
Missing does not have to try hard to press home the importance of its subject material. That a person goes missing in Britain every 2 minutes, an annual equivalent to the population of Plymouth, is presented firmly but without melodrama. A primarily verbatim piece, Missing features incredibly nuanced and sensitive portrayals of the individuals involved. The overarching story of Luke is more conventional but skillfully dissected into its component parts and effects upon his family. Surrounding this are fascinating insights into the less publicised cases such as material from the homeless and a harrowing portrayal of a detective whose job had absorbed his life.
Madeline McCann is acknowledged but is merely one among numerous examples delivered by a cast who are clearly focused on truth and honesty over sensationalism. This well selected and remarkably performed material is surrounded by well deployed physical theatre, including a tragically beautiful image of a drowning man and an echoing but wisely matched sound design. Verbatim is well suited for a topic where there is so much unknown, and Engineer Theatre Collective deserve the highest praise for presenting material in a mesmerising manner. If verbatim or the subject material interest you, Missing should not be missed.