Albion Forlorn @ C Venues Aquila

Review by Kayleigh Donaldson | 21 Aug 2013

Albion Forlorn describes itself in its marketing as “a torch song for the state we’re in” but it was impossible to find anything in this slog of a show that confirmed that. Instead, there were 70 shambolic minutes of blandly sung and disconnected songs with none of the charm or personality necessary for this show to in any way categorise itself as a cabaret.

With one teenage narrator reciting his lines as if he only learned them a few hours before and three female singers who nervously shuffle around the stage in various guises, the piece feels more like an early rehearsal than a finished product. While the singers’ voices are generally pleasant, none of them are strong enough to hit the high notes. What should come with a bang instead just whimpers. Having the adolescent narrator lecture the audience on the role of women in fixing a dispossessed society descending into a consumerism-inspired emptiness ends up akin to being locked in a room with a cloying tween child star from a feel good romantic comedy. Not only is it condescending to this female reviewer, it’s downright irritating.

Big promises wither to dust and this supposed torch song is entirely void of imagination and passion. A torch song to the dispossessed needs far more emotion behind it than what is on offer here. Even the performers look bored with what they’ve been given to do. One or two of the songs raise smiles, especially one wine pun filled number, but in the end they all feel pointless because they don’t come together to form anything of substance. If Albion Forlorn wants to truly call itself a torch song, it needs to light a fire underneath its feet and ignite some much needed hunger. 

 

Run ended https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/musicals-and-operas/albion-forlorn