EdFringe Review: Always, Sometimes, Maybe

The simplest show can make you feel the most complex emotions, and no performance proves this more than Michele Stine’s Always Sometimes Maybe, which packs sadness, joy, big laughs and absolute sincerity throughout an hour of clowning and puppetry that is likely to be unmatched this Fringe. So writes Harry Conway for theQR.co.uk…

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The show’s premise is minimal. We follow Lou, a janitor leading an isolated and lonely life that sees her cutting herself off from as much of humanity as possible, only finding solace in the friends she makes out of bits of rubbish she finds while cleaning. Lou persists in this lonely life until, through the complete collapse of the fourth wall, she becomes aware of her audience and must find some way to navigate what Sartre famously defined as Hell: other people.

Unable to communicate with us directly, Lou spends much of the show’s hour constructing and deconstructing puppets on the fly, and it’s a testament to the magic of theatre that she makes these little tufts of nothing into fully-fledged characters that we not only care about but that subtly tell us so much about Lou in the process.

Puppetry and the Desire for Connection

This is a show about loneliness and the innate human desire for connection, the fear that comes with it, and the bravery needed to overcome that fear. In delivering all this, Stine proves herself an exceptional artist, with props, puppetry and her very body. This is a self-assured performance of clowning, puppeteering and mime, backed up by intelligent direction that plays with dynamic lighting and on-stage tools to control every moment, such as Lou’s dustbin that can turn from mundane to horrifying in seconds.

There are some lingering imperfections here and there. For example, we’re given little of the greater context of Lou’s life, how she ended up in this situation, and why there is a certain very persistent visitor eager to bring her out into the greater world. Answers to these questions might help the ending pack a stronger punch, but these narrative bumps do nothing to spoil the beating heart that makes up the core of this wonderful show.

The ultimate message here is one of hope, a hope that aims to drive the audience to go out and foster their communal bonds. It’s a message that makes for one of the sweetest shows you’ll see this Fringe.

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