Review: FOX-LIGHT by Barnaby Tobias at The Hope Theatre 4 – 7 August 2022 / Camden Fringe Festival

‘There’s a connection between the pair … moments of sensuality and real frisson’ ★★★

Perhaps most audiences will not remember the 2000 romantic comedy film WHAT WOMEN WANT in which a man wakes up one morning with a new ‘gift’: he can hear everything women are thinking. In FOX-LIGHT, similarly, the audience can hear the characters thoughts. It’s delivered almost as two monologues with the occasional sparring duologue between them.

Two artists, Jay (Barnaby Tobias) and Tess (Martina Rossi) meet and discover there is an attraction between them. It becomes the game, the art of seduction, with its pull and push.  They fall in love revealing huge insecurities and jealousies on the part of Jay. Unlike the romantic comedy ‘What Women Want’, this is a tragedy, and it all ends rather badly.   

There’s a connection between the actors which could be pushed even further. There are those moments of real frisson between them, a sensuality, an animal attraction which explains why they are unable to break free from the toxicity of the relationship.

The script is full of beautifully descriptive passages, by turns hungry, raw, curious, cruel, heartbreakingly fragile, and honestly horny.  Unfortunately, whilst the first part of the show is very promising indeed, it starts to feel repetitive.  The early promise of the script now feels leaden. The rule in theatre is ‘show not tell’ and here we are given a linear script with the inner thoughts of the characters laid bare. Although fascinating for 20 minutes or so (thanks to the quality of the writing) it becomes tiresome. Audiences thrive on working things out for themselves, and enjoy symbolism, subtext, dramatic irony and other theatrical devices. The show is too ‘on the nose’ leaving us with nothing to do other than observe the woman being badly treated by the man, who is clearly someone who has confidence issues. 

The reason for Jay’s confidence issues seem petty, and not insurmountable, so the ending seems over the top.  It feels as though there are deeper reasons why Jay is such an arsehole, but we never discover the underlying truth.  The show is a male centric offering with little or no clear power shifts. It skims over Tess’s story, which is shocking and has a lame ending. We learn nothing new. 

Overall, very promising writing and performances. Director Simon Usher keeps up a good pace and movement director Kirsty Mcfarland keeps the visuals interesting with one particularly steamy episode which was well orchestrated.  

FOX-LIGHT

The Hope Theatre, Islington 4 – 7 August 2022

Box Office https://camden.ssboxoffice.com/events/fox-light/

Cast:

Barnaby Tobias - Jay

Martina Rossi - Tess

Production:

writer Barnaby Tobias

director Simon Usher

producer Linus Hornsey-Pennell

movement director Kirsty Mcfarland

designer Louisa Posovatz

Reviewed by Heather Jeffery, Editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine