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Choose Your Fighter presents an intriguing concept, but the weak storyline, confusing dialogue, and lack of character development hinder its potential.Summary
Rating
Ok
Choose Your Fighter presents an intriguing idea. Four people, Dee (Miguel Barralus), Freya (Georgia Koronka), Craig (Daniel Luiz), and Amber (Jess Pentney), all living together in one relationship. They swap partners, sleep together, and generally seem happy enough. However, underneath that top layer of this ‘queer utopia’, something is wrong. It all started with a party a year ago, and things just haven’t been the same since.
The story begins in the present day with the four lovers trying to work out who might go as Amber’s plus one to her parents’ 30th wedding anniversary. The audience can see – even feel – the simmering resentments and the pressure that a relationship like this puts everyone under. We then flash back to a year ago and the other party. Eventually the two timelines meet. Will the relationship survive?
What makes Choose Your Fighter different is that the audience is privy to just one character’s inner thoughts, feelings, and memories. You get a glimpse of what happened and what is happening, but all told through the eyes of one, possibly unreliable, narrator. Entering the performance space, each chair has a pair of headphones, which we wear throughout, and you’re allocated one of the four ‘fighters’ to follow. I had Koronka’s Freya, who offered up a remarkable performance, particularly during an astonishing monologue about stripping at the party she threw for Dee’s dead mum, the catalyst for the initial falling out, at least in her opinion. Of course, we never get to hear what the others think or why they drifted apart. How clever is that? In theory, very. Sadly, in practice, it just didn’t work for me.
My main problem was I felt uncomfortable. Wearing the headphones was something I could just about manage, although not for much longer than the 75-minute runtime. But the real issue was the amount going on. While I tried to focus on the actor in front of me (and in my ears), I could still hear the others talking, sometimes shouting, as well as see them moving about. On a couple of occasions, two or three of the actors were finished with their monologues while others were still talking. This meant that the silent performers had to just stand and stare, while the audience could hear other dialogue still going on. With so much sound coming at me from near and far, and so much happening all around, I personally felt it was too much. A warning for those who don’t enjoy such over-stimulation could be helpful.
While the performances are commendable, the story falls short of its potential and just doesn’t really go anywhere. The fact is that the play is less about the story and more about the concept of only engaging with one character, but this may not work as intended. It means a lot of the nuance and details that can help you understand what’s happening is lost. For example, you are told a lot about the other characters by the one you are ‘following’, but telling is not as great as showing. The lack of opportunity to get to know the other characters can leave you feeling disconnected and disengaged from the story. The concept of being allocated one actor certainly adds an interesting twist, but it may not work for everyone.
Choose Your Fighter has good performances along with excellent set design and lighting. However, the weak storyline, confusion caused by overlapping dialogue and jumping between timelines, and a lack of opportunity to engage with the other characters may detract from the unique experience.
Written by: Katrina Bennett
Directed by: Amy Crighton
Produced by: Jade Parkin
Choose Your Fighter plays at Camden People’s Theatre until 13 May. Further information and bookings can be found here.
