What Goes Around @ The Tron, Edinburgh, 19 Sep
Liz Lochhead’s What Goes Around is exactly as it claims to be – a contemporary update of the theatre classic and 'sexual daisy chain' La Ronde
An actor and an actress are our first couple. The play addresses their uncomfortable age difference throughout, and it’s not the only theatre trope directly reflected on stage, or the only in-joke which may push out less regular theatre-going audiences.
It gets off to a slow start, and it feels as if those who are unfamiliar with the original work will not find themselves so easily in this play, but as the daisy chain starts and the actors take us from character to character, the play is funny, clever and a strong homage to its original whilst placing itself entirely in a contemporary world. Each character, though played by the same two actors, is differentiated enough from the last, and the overlapping relationships ring true to the messy world of dating and relationships – particularly in its insight into online dating.
We even see snippets of Schnitzier’s original work, traditional costumes and all. Keith Fleming and Nicola Roy, who play all characters in this two-hander, become the married woman and young man, as well as the Russian director so opposed to Fleming’s leading man, and the frustrated Scottish composer who cannot please her. It is only in these final moments that the two-hander seems not enough, with action having to take place off-stage for all characters to be represented. What Goes Around is confusing, and instead of carrying its humour to the end, judders to a sadly unsatisfactory halt.
What Goes Around, touring Scotland 'til 8 Oct