Diluted delivery of a promising narrativeRating
Ok
It helps to have a drink handy for this show; both to better buy into the mood established early in Alice Mogridge’s tale of two bar workers dealing with the dicey fallout of a work party, as well as to make the many bumps in the road go down a little smoother. Like many of these kinds of work parties, the show has moments of fun that are unfortunately undermined by a certain hollowness within affairs.
Mogridge stars as Frankie opposite Sasha van Diepen as Jess, two friends labouring at the eponymous ‘Pour Decisions’ bar under their tyrannical oddball of a manager, the “turkey-teethed” Digby, who inadvertently manages to land them into a dire debacle. Though he’s never portrayed on-stage (by a person at least) Digby is a wonderfully realised character, and though the play lacks a clear establishment of the venue (its clientele, its history, etc.) that all these characters find themselves in, the villainous eccentricity of Digby does great work in making up for these holes and is testament to Mogridge’s promise as a writer.
Despite this strength however, the hollowness mentioned before looms its head with the performances themselves. Mogridge and van Diepen often feel like actors playing about on stage rather than individuals in the life or death situation the narrative paints. Whether a conscious decision from the cast and director Molly Fraser or not, it’s a style of performance that leaves the play failing to meaningfully connect, though for her part van Diepen’s Jess leans into this with more success than Mogridge’s Frankie (possibly due to certain story revelations that come about regarding the former).
This shallow dimension to the evening is furthered thanks to a plot that meanders without much of interest occurring. Non-sequitur tangents feel they’re given the kind of focus needed for the main narrative, such as the arrival of a ‘vermin eliminator’ or a random act of spanking, The tension never feels real leaving much of what happens between Frankie and Jess feel like a lot of just dithering about. This is made all the more clear by the handbrake turn of an ending that veers into a dark and serious tone, feeling unearned and disconnected from the story till that point.
There’s promise here, and good enough fun at certain moments, but the potential on display deserves a bit more refinement on the story side and a re-think of how the performances themselves are approached before it can fully deliver.
Written by Alice Mogridge
Directed and designed by Molly Fraser
Lighting design by Emma Langan
Pour Decisions plays at The Glitch until Monday 13 October
