REVIEW: Out of Character, Prickly Ash Theatre, EdFringe 2025 ★★★

In a subversive world of undisclosed dealings between gangsters and crime families, Prickly Ash Theatre create a dizzying and abstract set of discontiguous stories exploring gender, fiction, passion, and something called ‘fictosexuality’. It’s a highly out-there piece of theatre that looks to understand the impact of hyper-masculine characters on screen and page through the lens of overlooked female East Asian creatives.

The stage is adorned with a thorny portrait frame held in place by a set of cantilevering clamps and poles – the abstract is on stage long before the actors, and it builds a hefty sense of intrigue as to what we’re about to witness. As the lights go down, a pair of female eyes appear projected over the stage, remaining for much of the performance. The design elements of these piece are superb, and they frame the entire show in the gaze of the surveillance state, the voyeur, and as we soon go onto discover too the role of the audience in interpreting fiction.

A gangster called Chan is drawn into an altercation with a rival gangster – the piece quickly evoking visual elements of classic Hong Kong crime films like Fallen Angels and Internal Affairs. A nostalgic and complicated relationship with masculinity in the media is the pulling thrust of this piece. A relatively classic plot plays out in anarchically arranged vignettes – a hard-working gangster named Chan sidelined by his unforgiving boss, him falling in love with the boss’ innocent and naïve daughter, scrapes and altercations with henchmen that nearly end up costing him his live.

Then, all at once a woman appears from the side-lines and begins to narrate what appear to be the thoughts of Chan, evoking homoerotic themes alongside the place of the spirit in the body and mind. It isn’t long before she herself dons his jacket, and thus his role. It was here where I began to piece together the thrust of what this show was about. I was initially quite disoriented by the expletive-heavy opening and how I was supposed to be perceiving the combination of multimedia elements and theatre, it was a somewhat jarring experience that began to become cohesive by this time.

The performance from the female actor who takes on Chan’s role is the strongest in the piece – she is able to translate both dimensions of that character exceptionally – the yearning, desire and introspection of the young woman embodying the testosterone-charged gangster. Moments of tenderness bloom in the scenes that see Chan interacting with the Boss’ daughter, and this intimacy alongside the female Chan asks us – what does the female gaze look like in scenes of violence, crime, and misogyny?

Prickly Ash’s aims to deliver explore and platform a deeply nuanced and underrepresented intersection are admirable. The aloofness of the plot may jar you, but as the ethos becomes clear a resonant sense of purpose seeps in. The addition of a performer providing steel drum musical scoring throughout the piece sets a magically real tone, and was a wonderful tone-setter for the performers.

Some of the actors could work to develop their diction and clarity – I often found myself losing sentences, and especially some lines during the scenes of violence did not carry the weight needed to be impactful in terms of tone and delivery. Actors performing in their second language are an essential and greatly admirable part of the festival, especially considering that this show is bringing such a unique perspective to the Fringe. With further development and reworking on elements of the performance this show will shine as it is truly distinct, stylish, and special.

Recommended Drink: Pair this with a Gunpowder Cocktail – punchy, present, and unique.

You can catch Out of Character until August 16th (not the 10th) at Fleming Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall from 11:40 (50mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.