The Pain of Desire @ Summerhall

The show does not begin in the performance space but in the foyer as the audience waits to enter. We are greeted by Wendy Bevan's (the vocalist in Temper Temper, our performers for the evening) personal assistant. He shakes every member of the audiences hand, awkwardly swigs from a canister and makes sure we are ready for the evening ahead.
 
Temper Temper is a four-piece band with Bevan being the focal point and attraction. She is a performer with style and grace, who takes to the stage with a muted sophistication that she holds with dignity and poise throughout the hour. Her hand gestures paint a picture of forlorn love as her powerful voice makes the room swoon. The Pain of Desire is an appropriate designation for the show, as this title also sums up the theme and content of the songs. Bevan has a deep lonely soul and poisoned heart which she shares with the audience. The songs are a soundtrack to a forgotten German Expressionist film and instil vicious and tragic imagery.
 
Projections on the ceiling help create the mood and style of the piece and do not distract from the central performance. With The Pain of Desire Wendy Bevan has developed a unique act. She has lips that exist to be millimetres from a microphone and a voice that was born to beguile and seduce.