In 1751, Mary Blandy was accused of knowingly poisoning her father with arsenic under the instruction of her lover, William Cranstoun. She claimed she thought the arsenic, given to her by William, was a love potion intended to make her father’s heart soften towards him. At the time of her trial, whether or not she truly knew what she was doing was a significant point of contention – and remains so to this day.
Blandy tells Mary’s story in a sixty-minute dash through her life. With only two actors – Georgie Dettmer and Luke Nixon – playing every role, the production is fast-paced and, as the tension mounts, increasingly anxiety-inducing. There is no need to be familiar with Blandy’s story in order to understand what takes place, as it is explained clearly, and the folk tale of the Pig Princess referred to throughout allows the audience to more clearly understand Blandy’s mindset. Perhaps the story is not fully explored from its most interesting angle – the question not of whether Blandy knew what she was doing, but rather to what extent she felt it was justified if she did know – but the narrative is still gripping and rather poignant as it draws to a close.
Dettmer, who along with a few other characters plays Mary, does so with a great deal of lively enthusiasm and understands her character’s naivety well, infusing her with a life that makes her downfall rather heartbreaking. Nixon, playing William as well as many other characters, has brilliant physicality, clearly delineating the differences between the characters he plays with nothing more than a few changes in his posture and mannerisms (essential in a production with no costumes!), and as many of his characters turn towards cruelty as the show goes on, his commitment to each role ensures the emotion of each scene lands as it should.
The sound design is good, with driving modern beats keeping the pace of the show up and heightening the tension. There is perhaps a little too much haze used – if you’re sitting towards the front it can be difficult to breathe – but otherwise the production around the performance is strong, making great use of four benches, a mic stand and a bowl of porridge.
Blandy is a great piece of Edinburgh Fringe theatre with worthy performances and a script that stays as interesting as it does intense from beginning to end. A great way to spend an hour at the Fringe, and with under a week of the festival remaining, there isn’t much time left to catch it in action – so take the chance if you have it!
