Repertory Theatre @ C

With over 2,800 shows, the Edinburgh Fringe certainly has a lot to offer, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t many more who were turned away. In Elephant and the Mouse’s Repertory Theatre, a budding playwright tries to persuade a very unusual Artistic Director of a theatre to put on his new play.

The script is undoubtedly very intelligent, the fast paced flurry of dialogue is impressive in its delivery alone, not to mention the allusions to Hamlet, both in name and in narrative content. The Artistic Director in particular practically effervesces in front of the audience, spitting out his tirade of dialogue in a manner not too dissimilar to Basil Fawlty.

However, for what feels like a piece of farce, there’s not enough humour. The opening half of the play is frustrating and tiresome, the unexplained idiosyncratic repeated phrases, movements and sounds, mildly amusing at the start, begin to grate fairly quickly. While the latter part of the performance does reveal a redemptive twist and offers a satisfying change in direction it isn't enough to dispel the lingering sense of tedium hanging over from the previous action. The meta elements, hinting at the office's 'fourth wall', reflect the show's intellectual strengths. Unfortunately, despite its obviously well thought out text and admirable performances, Repertory Theatre could do with a little more tightening.