• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides
  • Ed Fringe

EdFringe 2017 – From The Ground Up at Assembly Roxy

August 17, 2017 by Scarlet Evans Leave a Comment

Review of: From The Ground Up
Price:
£9

Reviewed by: Scarlet Evans
Rating:
3
On August 17, 2017
Last modified:August 17, 2018

Summary:

Audience voting show about voting ticks the right boxes

More Details

Perhaps it is not a huge surprise that audience participation by vote has come into vogue. This structure has, of course, been popular on television shows for an incredibly long time, and even on some that link directly to the theatre – think, for example, of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s various musical audition shows, in which the BBC viewers became the casting directors. The Almeida Young Company’s From The Ground Up is not alone is one of many Fringe shows that incorporates the audience’s opinion into its entertainment, and the Fringe also coincides with the run of The Majority at the National. The British (however you choose to define that) are, at this moment, a group voting on important issues almost annually, and so it is only natural that this aspect of life has been imitated by art.

In the bunker space at the bottom of Assembly Roxy, the audiences for FTGU are stamped on each hand before we go in – the right with ‘YES’, the left ‘NO’ (in, might I add, some very shower-gel proof ink). Rather than any complex technology, it becomes clear that these are the means we will vote with over the course of the show. The company, playing characters named after colours to ensure neutrality, read out statements and we vote; first with our hands, then people stand and take steps across dots on the ground in turn. The answers that we give and the choices we make over the course of the show result in our being sorted into different groups, which, at the end of the performance, we can leave if we start to disagree.

The show shies away from being about anything more than voting and choosing itself, the climax focussing on the people who cannot be sorted. It ends with a final monologue (that, due to the unfortunate placement of a concrete column in the middle of the space, I missed) performed to a final audience member who cannot be sorted into any of the groups. She is instead pronounced ‘grey’. The conclusion is elegantly simple, making the voting itself the story rather than trying to squeeze more in to the mere hour the company have. This simplicity and control is rare to see in a Fringe show, and it is suggestive of the thoughtfulness in this production as a whole. It’s hard to pick out individual elements as one would usually when reviewing, which perhaps proves how much the production succeeds – I wasn’t thinking about the acting, or the direction, or the design, so much as I was thinking about the choices I was making, and who these choices made me. Which, after all, was the point.

FTGU is a decent show that succeeds in making its audience laugh and think. While its simplicity gives it success, it does also make it hard to define. The show is worth seeing not because of what it shows you about the creatives and production, but what it encourages you to think about in your own self.

Avatar

Author: Scarlet Evans

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: Assembly, Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Join the discussion Cancel reply

NEWS / Living Record Festival of digital arts announces programme

Living Record Festival is a month-long Digital Arts Festival curating and presenting over 40 original pieces from a range of [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Open Bar on A ChristMESS CAROL

Tell us about Open Bar Theatre and also how you came about and how the name came about. OBT: Open Bar [Read More]

NEWS / Ayomide Adegun awarded The Luke Westlake Scholarship 2020

22 year old South Londoner Ayomide Adegun is currently in his 2nd year of the BA Acting course at Royal [Read More]

NEWS / Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels announced

A new play repurposed for online viewing from the creative team behind Scrounger, and the first of the Finborough Theatre’s [Read More]

NEWS / Crimes Against Christmas becomes an audio advent calendar

Typically at this time of year theatre company New Old Friends would have just finished an Autumn tour and be [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • 10 Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Reality TV Auditions
  • Writing the Perfect Press Release
  • 5 Stage Elements to Consider for a Rousing Theatrical Production
  • Parliament Square at the Bush Theatre
  • Interview with Alan Flanagan, writer-performer of Bingo
  • Katy Owen: Auditioning for Oxford School of Drama
  • Katy Owen: How to Apply to Drama Schools*
  • The Pay’s the Thing: Making a Living as an Actor
  • Katy Owen: LAMDA Audition (First Round)
  • How to Applying for Arts Grants and Funding
  • Avatar

    Scarlet Evans
    Author

  • August 17th, 2017
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2021 · Blue Pie Media

    Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

    Email sent!