Salvador Kent
I first heard about Shotgunned earlier this year during an enormously successful run at the Traverse Theatre. Here it is at Assembly, where Matt Anderson’s relationship drama has taken on a pleasingly elevated production design alongside two compelling central performances.
Shotgunned follows the relationship between Dylan and Roz. Their’s is one of those relationships where they’re not soulmates but they still impact each other’s lives profoundly. It is told non-chronologically with great skill, and the unconventional form is justified and smart.
At the relationship’s crucial turning points – a drunken flirtation at a party, their break-up, meeting weeks later, a chance encounter at a coffee shop years afterwards – the writing is achingly beautiful. Anderson’s script functions well as the relationship developed, despite Dylan coming across more naturally than Roz.
Dylan is played as awkward but charming by Fraser Allan Hogg, who gives him a great emotional arc. It’s a testament to Anderson’s direction of his actors, which is clearly well-worked and creates a nice dynamic.
Lorna Panton as Rob does a wonderful job with the material, but the material itself felt a little laboured. We understand she wants a family, but little else seems to drive her. Dylan on the other hand, is a whirlwind of concepts and ideas. He’s an actor – he loves videogames, he’s a little awkward, he’s encouraged to write. Perhaps the play’s flaw at the moment is this.
Roz has a cruel-ish ex-situationship, but her attraction to these abusive types rarely comes through in the script. At the moment her inner life comes through solely in observations generated by Dylan. It is Roz’s gestural reactions which hint at her trauma, not the dialogue itself.
This aside, the scenes all flow nicely and are performed with humour and drama where appropriate. Giulia Pizziol’s production design is slick, stylish and functional. Jack Read’s lights respond to the shifting settings: clubs, taxis, apartments, coffeeshops.
Shotgunned is a solid piece of new Scottish writing. It is compellingly performed, directed, and designed, and it’s worth catching if you’re looking for a relationship drama this Fringe.
Recommended Drink: If you’re watching alone have a pint, otherwise share a bottle of wine with your S/O.
You can catch Shotgunned at Assembly George Square Studios (Studio 5) from August 15-30 at 15.10 (60mins). Tickets available through the EdFringe box office.
Frankie Finsbury
Hannah Hamilton
