Part of this year’s Tandem Writing Collective triple-bill of staged readings, Mhairi Quinn’s Rage Room explores the destructive aspects of familial influence and 21st-century influencer culture.
The scene? A new Glasgow ‘Rage Room’ where paying customers can express their violent needs be it for fun, catharsis, or both. Enter Jos (Betty Valencia), her older sister April (Kim Allan), and their mother, played by Natalie Arle-Toyne.
It’s immediately clear that three do not enjoy the healthiest family dynamic. Jos espouses modern feminist strength to her podcast subscribers, whilst unashamedly exploiting her nearest and dearest for content. Her and April’s Mum isn’t precisely a supportive parent, dubious of new-fangled ideas, and resentful of the bird who flew the nest. April, signed off from work through mental ill-health, seeks to please, and escape both.
A full staging or not, this is a play reliant upon the quality of its dialogue, and performers. Thanks to strength in both regards, this compact family is a fully realised, dysfunctional trio complete with complex relationships and inherited trauma. That said, the multi-talented Allan is underused, her silent but emotionally charged big sister left too long in the background before being provoked to game-changing rage.
“A full staging or not, this is a play reliant upon the quality of its dialogue, and performers.”
Some of that is down to the play’s compact, sub-1-hour runtime, dominated by Jos and her mother’s expressively hostile attitudes toward one another. They grate bright sparks off each other, both traumatic and comedic, the older woman’s ‘shut up and get on with life’ attitude clashing with the younger’s glossy ideas of empowerment.
The absurdities of both are illustrated with sparkling vignettes, from Jos’s hyper-stylised spiel to camera, to her mum’s blatantly preferential and parasitical coddling of the daughter who stayed home. Neither extreme of their petty difference of opinion proves more likeable than the other. April presents as a default object of sympathy; given just a little more to do and she might earn it. Nevertheless, Director Sarah Rose Graber finds the rhythm in Quinn’s text and makes sure the pace never falters.
“Director Sarah Rose Graber finds the rhythm in Quinn’s text and makes sure the pace never falters.”
Plotwise, the play’s scenario is one big Chekhov’s gun, and Quinn doesn’t shy from pulling the trigger. This produces a suitably shocking change of tone, but the aftermath is afforded virtually no time to mature. It shifts the play towards a social fable as opposed to a messier, less terminal, and potentially more engaging finale. Quinn certainly demonstrates the chops to handle far more nuance.
Similarly, whilst Cellist Jessica Kerr is on hand to amp up the dramatic stakes at key points, she spends more time watching the play than taking part. Here, as in the play at large, there’s a sense of unfulfilled but enticing promise.
That said, Rage Room is rich with sparkling, characterful conversation-cum-argument. An ode to mutual destruction, there’s enough to laugh at, and plenty to think about in this bold social commentary. It would be fascinating to see this clever show developed further, and given more space to realise its potential.
Featured Image: Tandem Writing Collective
Show Details
Venue: Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Date: Sun 21 Apr 2024
Admission: £5
Showtimes:
- 8:00pm
Age Recommendation: 16+
Running Time: Approx 65 minutes (no interval)
Accessibility
- Wheelchair Accessible Venue
- Wheelchair Accessible Toilet
- Audio Enhancement System
