TURTLE

Theatre is at its best when a man walks onstage with a carrot and a far away expression and we accept, beyond a doubt, that he is a turtle. Theatre is even better when a turtle (who looks like a bored man) is embodied by the spirit of someone who we thought was dead – and we still go there, with no hesitation. Turtle makes it easy to take your imagination for a little stretch and a wander. 

It is a difficult feat to make an audience care about your protagonist for an hour – perhaps the point is you can’t make us do anything – but this simple show succeeded in creating a desire to bump into Eleanor on High St one day. Weird, lovely, affable, intense Eleanor who happens to have a massive problem with vomit and vomiting. The best thing about Turtle is that it puts life and love first, and problems second – this show isn’t ABOUT Emetophobia, it’s about a woman living with a little issue that doesn’t make life easier.

Julia Grace is bloody talented, and very welcoming – the most engaged and hooked into their audience that we have seen this fringe. She is emotionally flexible, adaptable and always on the ball, with some outstandingly well-observed characters in the mix, too: crazy Lottie and Raquel from Gumtree. David Van Horn is her ex/turtle Frank and is so dry he should be dead – perfect offset to Julia’s fizz, he often becomes a middle point between her and the audience. This show really has a great handle of and respect for the crowd – rare at the fringe.

Actually this show was so involved it made the audience a little queasy. It moves fast, and we are sucked into Eleanor’s world of constant paranoia, dodging questions and chucking suspect food. In a beautiful climax, we are rewarded with a little puke and everything feels (vicariously) better.