Someone Who'll Watch Over Me

An Englishman, an Irishman and an American walk into a room in Lebanon. Only, this isn't the set up to a joke. All three have been kidnapped by Arab militants, being held for reasons unknown in inhumane conditions, and they're all very scared. Edward, Michael and Adam find themselves struggling to survive, struggling to stay sane, amid the barbarism of their situation. And along the way, as they bicker and fight amongst themselves, they lay bare their innermost fears and insecurities.

Unfortunately, this student rendition of Frank McGuinness's 1992 play suffers for being based in a pre-9/11 world. In a lot of respects, the source material is rather dated; the Arab kidnappers—unplaced and unnamed—are a mere plot device, a tool used to explore inward concerns, such as petty differences between English-speaking nations and competing ideals of masculinity. Twenty years on from its debut, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me has nothing to say about Middle Eastern politics; its concern is exclusively with post-Cold War Western neuroses. To contemporary eyes, this is no longer satisfactory.

Which is a shame, because—a suspiciously Scottish-sounding American accent aside—this is an adept performance from a promising young cast. This is a perfectly passable student production, but in the context of the wider Fringe, there's nothing special to be found here.