Futureproof

Lynda Radley's new play, her first for the Traverse, is befuddlingly dull. On paper, it shouldn't be: its setting—behind the scenes at a freak show that's suffering from declining visitor numbers in a post-Darwin age—is an interesting one, with much to say about the idea of celebrity and how far we allow ourselves to change for fame. But this production, Dominic Hill's last for the Traverse before departing to Glasgow's Citizens Theatre, never quite gets off the ground.

First, there are inconsistencies in the way it represents its characters. The audience is simultaneously invited to sympathise with and laugh at Tiny, a hugely overweight character forced to lose pounds in order to boost visitor numbers. And the sudden moment of eloquence from George-Georgina—an inter-gender character who essentially provides the play's moral compass—at the play's denouement feels like too much of a leap from her hitherto awkward, inarticulate demeanour.

Moreover, Radley's script is wordy, with too much being said and not enough shown. We're told, for instance, of its characters' discomfort at being stared at by paying punters but we don't see it, and the elimination of the on-stage element of their life rids the play of a vital tension.

These imbalances underpin Futureproof's disappointments. Nevertheless, Colin Richmond's triumphant set design—all muted colours and fairground apparatus—is bewitching and a devastating dream sequence told in monochrome wakes the stuttering action into life just before the end. But it's a small glimmer of brilliance in what's otherwise an unfulfilling, unexciting production.