Showing @ The Tron, Glasgow 8-12 Feb @ 19:45
There’s always a small, niggling fear that seeing a ‘one woman show’ means participating in some kind of man-condemning, bra-burning crusade, but extreme stereotypes more often than not fail to produce any valid insight into a character. Karen MacLachlan’s Just Checking is less about a woman’s battle against the world, and more about the human struggle for perfection.
Izzy Grant (Blythe Duff): fiancée to Mario, dedicated employee with promotion in the pipeline and paranoid germophobe. She begins the play indulgently revelling in bliss, but her anxieties and inhibitions reveal themselves to be more powerful than true love. Or are they? Only overcoming cats, cakes and a compulsive fear of germs will tell.
Like all one-person shows, characterisation is relied on heavily, and this is the triumph of Just Checking. Although Izzy displays one or two “typical-woman” traits, her character is visceral, honest and real. Along with being Izzy, Duff creates every other character involved so convincingly that you barely realise you’re watching people that aren’t there. Robin Peoples’ immaculate white kitchen set is transformed by Duff’s compelling performance and snappy lighting changes into multiple places in Izzy’s life: her office, Mario’s restaurant, a conference; each sequence executed with poise and precision. There is the sense that this could have been written for television, however, Liz Carruthers’ direction ensures each scenario flows into the next and instead of appearing disjointed, the sporadic structure seems to provide greater insight into Izzy’s mosaic character. Her struggle for perfection is her flaw; it threatens her individuality. Imperfection gives people identity. Is a generic, ‘perfect’ culture better than the stereotypes we attempt to dissolve? In an ever-increasingly globalised society, personal, national and cultural identities are at risk. It’s time to abandon the spray cleaner and embrace the grit, before fear of individuality threatens our ability to be a collective.