Camden Fringe
A considered and funny exploration of what it's like to overthink and worry about everythingsummary
Rating
Good
Laura has a lot to answer for. She might only appear in video form for mere seconds in Jaylie Wayling‘s Eat, Sleep, Ruminate, Repeat, but it is because of her “it was lovely to meet you” and a debatable frown with one eyebrow that we spend the show watching Jaylie tear herself to pieces over whether Laura likes her or not. For Jaylie it’s a chance to analyse it to the n’th degree, because she’s an over-thinker, anxious about every detail. It might sound trivial, but it’s something that controls her life, causing inaction as she over-analyses every possible scenario, especially the worst ones!
But back to Laura. Jaylie introduces her on the video screen, showing the same two second clip over and over as she tries to find meaning in every slight moment – even magnifying the one offending eyebrow so we can all see that slight movement of it. It’s a very funny and effective introduction to Jaylie’s anxieties, and works as a wonderful framing device for the whole show. It really should form the basis of all future rewrites to ensure that it remains at the play’s very core.
Supporting Jaylie as she ruminates about that eyebrow is Jaylie 2, played with the required confidence and devil-may-care attitude by Marelyn Pielago. Jaylie 2 is her alter ego, the Jaylie that Jaylie wishes she could be. Jaylie 2 is confident, carefree, adventurous – everything Jaylie isn’t. Between them they argue and debate Laura’s “lovely to meet you” and that eyebrow, as Jaylie 2 does her best to assure Jaylie it doesn’t mean anything. And besides, so what if it did? Who is Laura anyway?
This is a really fun and insightful show. It’s abundantly clear that Wayling knows her subject matter, with an attention to detail that drives the play along, taking us with her as she fights with herself in the form of her alter ego.
It’s also obvious that this is a show still in its infancy with plenty of further work needed before it’s the finished article. That includes a runtime nearer an hour than it presently is. But the basics are already there so there’s no reason as to why it can’t do that. Some of its issues are nothing more than a need for a little more rehearsal and stage time – there needs to be a better flow between actors as they deliver their lines, as it’s just a little stiff right now. Additionally, Wayling needs to find the right balance for those moments where she shouts; all too often it becomes more of an unnecessary screech – you do worry for her vocal cords!
Whilst those can be ironed out in the rehearsal room, what will take more work are the rewrites Wayling needs to do. There is a great skeleton here to work with but now it needs to be fleshed out more carefully. Some scenes work better than others, and it’s up to Wayling to work out what to cut and what to keep. The clever use of the screen needs to stay, including the fun “Interaction Chart” that could be expanded upon, but the club scenes would be high on my ‘cut’ list. Although the dancing needs to stay! ‘Dance like no one is watching’ is the phrase that comes to mind there!
Eat, Sleep, Ruminate, Repeat is already a fun show, exploring anxieties in a way that really helps explain why they can be so debilitating. But there are plenty of reasons to believe it will come back even better once Wayling has the time to sit down and look at where to take it next.
Written by: Jaylie Wayling
Directed by: Emma Sigurdsson
Produced by: Pending Theatre Company
Eat, Sleep, Ruminate, Repeat played for one night only as part of Camden Fringe.
Read more about this show in our recent interview here.
