Halfway
Vista Theatre Company
Fringe favourites and award winning Vista Theatre Company return to the Paupers Pit for the third year running with their new show Halfway.
Vista Theatre Company - Halfway Review
Two people stand leaning on a small climbing frame - a young man (Boy) and a girl (Guardian) - amidst the ambient noise of road traffic and birdsong. Then the young man begins to tell the story of his sexual awakening, of his experiences in a world of cottaging and cruising, of encounters as a 13-year-old with older men in public toilets. His story is initially sordid, but gradually develops a delicacy and poetry of its own, bringing romance to this very personal tale.
As he tells his story, the young woman begins to move, her movements at times echoing, and at others disguising the words Boy tells. They use the wooden structure to give themselves different levels, occasionally trapped together in claustrophobic intimacy, at others free. Occasionally, their movements become enmeshed, and they move together in triumphant style. A beautifully choreographed routine to an acoustic rendition of This Charming Man celebrates a coupling with a young doctor, while later, Boy seems to leave his childhood at home (with Guardian hanging on a coat-hanger in his discarded tracksuit top), as he starts to escape from his home to find himself in weekends in London, vogue-ing to a techno beat.
Writer Phil Minns' performs his monologue wonderfully well, his rendition personal and sympathetic, his voice warm and melodic, while his physical interaction with Sarah Bacon's Guardian takes the show to a whole new level. Clearly the subject matter might not be to all tastes, but the nuanced performances, the poetic writing and the precision of the choreography make Halfway highly recommended.
Robbie Carnegie
A young mans rite of passage exploring sexuality, coming of age and the mortality of those closest to him.
Halfway is a two hander that plays out the thoughts and actions of one young mans true accounts from the age of 13-21. Text and movement intertwine to create images of his thoughts, feelings, real moments and most importantly human contact and intimacy. One body speaks the other becomes shadows, people, his thoughts, material objects and fantasy beings to help him escape the trappings and feelings of his real life.
It’s a true story of a young boy discovering his sexuality through brief encounters in cottages in parks and bus stations. The story is told through the eyes of the young thirteen year old his feelings, and his humour. There are some real touching moments where you get lost in this world and some that you are glad it wasn’t you that experienced them, but its not a story for you to feel sorry about, you see him travel from young teen to young man and that most if not all the decisions where his.
Halfway was originally a ten minute monologue in the successful “Silent Joys and Broken Toys” (nominated for best drama Buxton Festival Fringe 2006) that has been developed into this 60 minute tale of love, affection the feeling of being wanted…. That warm embrace of another human. The play looks back with hindsight “…I didn’t need the sex… I just wanted the contact… then it became habit, a routine to get out of the house not being able to break the cycle…”
Phil Minns and Sarah Bacon perform the piece exploring this dark and damp interesting world with honesty and power. The performance contains moments that will make you feel uncomfortable, then before you know it you are laughing and in this world of a naïve teenager, who just wants to spend some time with you with no strings, even though sometimes it would be nice to see you more than once and get to know you.
