A-Loan @ Paradise in the Vault

The Roses Theatre Company comes to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time with A-Loan, a well crafted story of students, finances, domestic abuse and diverse characters.

Using music, song, choreography, acting and object manipulation, the young cast tell an engaging tale that conveys emotion and humour. The main body of the play centers around a group of students, all very different in their personalities and backgrounds, and all very well executed by a cast who are only just reaching student age themselves. The story of the students is told using a variety of techniques to bring creativity and imagination to what could be a very static production.

The bank manager is played excellently, a man with a hatred for anyone going to university and having the carefree youth he always wanted. The comedy in his performance is valid and his story is moving. His tale is interlinked with those of the students who form an unlikely team when one of their university places is threatened by financial trouble.

While surrounded by humour and trivialities – such as which guy saw the girl first – there is real emotion at the core of this play within the financial hardships that plague a lot of students, and people in general, but also in one student's tale of the domestic abuse that goes on between his parents and horribly affects his brother. This leads to a very moving scene using only clothes on hangers that are manipulated from behind; the small parka conveying the child in the middle of such a household is heartbreaking. A very inventive performance technique for a storyline that could seem dull and repetitive.

Credit must be given to the music, understated at times and powerful at others. The original songs are excellently written and performed and while this is not a musical they slot in perfectly without seeming forced or unnecessary. 

A wonderful performance, surprising from a cast so young, The Roses Theatre Company and this young cast in particular can surely only go on to bigger and better things.