Nitro
Space On The Mile, Edinburgh Fringe
Reviewed by Freddie Lee on the 16th August 2018
Nitro is a play about a group of art students who are tasked with another project. However, this time they are determined to do something different, to do something real. Spurred on by the group leader, Nick, the group prepare to do the unbelievable and push the boundaries of modern art to the extremes.
The show starts quite light hearted which lures the audience into a false sense of security before it gradually gets more and more serious before the 'explosive' ending. It leaves us as an audience questioning the characters, their lives, decisions and motives, which is something that I've never come across before. I was still unsettled by the events of the play even after I left the theatre which is good as it leaves a lasting impression on the audience.
The cast really helped to keep the story going and even though this is an amateur production there was a definite sense of professionalism. Each member knew their character thoroughly and managed to bring a comedic side to the story event though it is a serious topic. I really enjoyed all their peformances and I look forward to see what they do in the future.
Personally, I feel that this play needs to be a little longer by about twenty minutes or so because we are sent straight into the action after a very brief introduction from Lily and Emile. As a result, the characters of the play are under-developed so the extra few minutes would mean we could explore the characters more. Another reason why I would like this play to be longer is that the events which happen in the story went from zero to one hundred in a very short space of time so a couple of more minutes would allow some time to really build up the events. I also felt that the message of the story was unclear - even two days later I'm still wondering what it was.
Overall, this play was good. It has a superb actors and a good storyline, and if it were to be expanded upon and some of the characters were explored further, I would enjoy it a lot more.
Nitro is currently playing at the Space On The Mile at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Do you have a show you would like me to review? e-mail me here at freddieelee@gmail.com
Thank you very much to the team at Nitro for inviting me to see and review their show!
