The List @ Summerhall

Stellar Quines theatre company presents The List, a piece about a woman who makes, of course, lists of tasks to avoid feeling out of control of her new life in a small village seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

At first, the tale seems understandable, since moving to a rural area inevitably causes the pace of life to become a great deal slower. It sounds like it could happen to anybody. Then the pattern changes, as the main character – played very convincingly by Maureen Beattie – reluctantly makes a new friend, Caroline. Caroline is the complete opposite of her, yet they still get along reasonably well. 

While there are multiple characters mentioned in this performance, The List is narrated in the first person, from the main character's perspective, and Beattie brings them all to life through her captivating storytelling ability. The structure of the story begins to build up momentum through the obsessive pace yet becomes deflated at certain parts, which appears to rob the story of the impact and intensity it could have. 

Aside from being about lists and obsessive behaviour, this one woman show is also about isolation, and how lonely modern human existence can be. It's also about those little tasks you add to a to-do list, knowing you will get round to them, thinking they are not particularly important, yet postponing them to the point of no return. It will make you re-evaluate your own list of things and filter out what is truly important. [Eric Karoulla]