@ Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh until Sun 30 Aug 2015 @ 15:20

The MolinoGroup are a lucky company as they are one of the four winners of the IdeasTap Underbelly Award. IdeasTap was a website and organisation that helped young and up and coming theatre makers and artists. Earlier this year it faced closure until was thankfully absorbed into the arts opportunity website Hiive. As a recipient of the award Much Further Out Than You Thought has high expectations surrounding it.

Much Further Out Than You Thought is written and performed by Giles Roberts. He plays an anxious soldier called Lance Corporal James Randall who, during the performance, recollects his past traumas. Randall addresses a 9 year old boy by the name of Danny. The child never appears onstage but is omnipresent and very much a character in the play. The story expresses one of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sufferer who struggles to come to terms with the sights he has seen as the actions he has undertaken. His plight is conveyed through the performers cagey and edgy monologues. The script is well written and delivered with an intense cadence that is very believable and visceral.

Much Further Out Than You Thought is definitely a show that takes a serious look at war and how it can have a deep affect on people. Giles Roberts is an excellent performer but the conclusion of the story feels a bit too inevitable and didn’t leave the audience guessing to what may happen. There is enough interest in the production to make it a worthy winner of the Ideastap Underbelly Award and it can sit proud with the other three recipients who also have performances at the Fringe this year.