In Control @ Paradise in the Vault

In Control from Airborne Theatre claims to shock and excite Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Unfortunately, the shocks are few and far between within the performance, and the rest of it is left empty and not exciting at all.

Three people find themselves in a darkened room with no way out – they must do everything their captors tell them to avoid the violence they begin to inflict on them for their disobediences. Tension is initially built with awkward silences between the three hostages – before they actually realise they are hostages – who don’t know what is going on. However that tension fails to build. The voices that drift in from offstage giving them instructions attempt to sound creepy, but again this fails.

There's nothing new in this script that hasn't been in every ‘shocking’ film, a lot of clichéd, repetitive phrases that show no insight into their real characters or further the plot in any way. The bursts of violence that occur are quite good and do shock periodically. The physical holding and slapping of people does appear real and vicious, however once these scenes are over there is nothing of interest to see or hear.

A very predictable plot, poor writing and average acting create a performance that does not provide what it has promised.