Undone

Wessel Pretorious has been hailed as one of South Africa's most exciting rising stars, and certainly acts the part this afternoon. Not just in the sense that he displays a huge abundance of ability and promise, but in his determination to fill the stage with unrelenting, self-conscious intensity. His every gesture and enunciation seem calculated to present him as a vital, mercurial talent, rather than strike any emotional chords with the audience or push what might be described as the play's narrative forward.

With the young man tackling each role himself, Undone amounts to little more than a showreel, albeit one that's already won numerous awards in his homeland. That it can be described as essential Fringe viewing despite it's many clear flaws is a testament to the performer's seemingly innate greatness.

We meet Pretorious in a bathtub where he absent-mindedly soaps himself, his jagged body lent an androgynous quality by the string of pearls that hangs around his neck. Flanked by a chair, suitcase, gramophone and some loose items of clothing, his character proceeds to recount the key events of his life leading up to adulthood. Over the course of the show, he embodies his highly strung father out with him on a driving lesson and depicts his mother as a spaced out Katherine Hepburn, but rarely makes you feel anything for these figures.

Whether sensuously applying moisturiser to his legs or tearing at his own flesh, Pretorious ensures that he can only really be admired from a distance.