Jonah Boy, The

George Square 4    6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24 @ 19.00    RSAMD

This show is very beautiful and quite tough to watch. The characters and what happens in this piece are not nice but they are clear and strong and comprehensible. The action takes place in a driven community. Motives are emotions come through resonantly in both the writing and the performances and the piece as a whole has a great coherence. The Jonah Body is the painful story of a lost but loving boy, his uncle, and a dead whale named Collette. It is good to see music theatre edging towards the territory of opera at the fringe.

The plot is clever and complex and the vocal ensemble writing and the performance by the RSAMD company is exhilarating. The venue is not ideal but nevertheless the audience is transported into the world of the piece. The set and lighting work well in the space and ‘less is more’ for a lot of effects which leaves the audience to imagine what is not seen.

The score, for keyboard, cello and percussion, is beautifully executed. It reminded me of 1950s operatic writing.

Key performances are given by Onor Orkut as the Uncle, Darren Brownlie as the Boy and Kirsty Malone as the Woman.