Who among us hasn’t had it happen? There you are, performing your student play about Margaret of Anjou, the fierce queen Shakespeare portrayed as a “She-Wolf” in Henry VI, Part 3, and then she shows up! Followed, of course, by Will himself.
What follows in Roses to the Living is a clever hour of mischievous mayhem, fizzing over with themes and ideas. Not everything works, but this original and ambitious ensemble piece by the Edinburgh group Pasuz Productions has many fine moments.
You can never quite predict where the restless script (by Fiona Hourston, who also plays Margaret) is heading. Some of the fitfully examined themes, such as what it’s like to meet your heroes and discover that they aren’t emblems but merely human, or questions of reputation and who gets to write your story, make for wonderful dramatic investigations.
Others, such as an extended but thin subplot about the abuse of power, involving a fully offstage character, are less interesting. Some questions, such as the actual nature of the historical Margaret and whether Shakespeare maligned her, are fascinating but under-sketched. Any one of these themes would have made for an engaging hour by itself; trying to cram all of these (and more!) into the show is rather over-egging the pudding.
The acting within the grassroots troupe is uneven, but Hourston as Margaret is an especially commanding presence, and evokes the complexities of the historical heroine with panache. Ennae McKnight makes for a sympathetic Molly, the student struggling to understand the supernatural disruption to her show. The affectionate bickering between Margaret and Shakespeare (played with gusto by John Beattie) is completely charming.
Tony Bittner is “The Diva,” part of a fictitious Fringe act meant to be taking the stage after Molly’s show. He dutifully fulfils the requirements of the part, but the role itself feels like a misstep. An exaggeratedly camp and over-emoting drag queen intended to be humorous not through wit but merely by existing lands as an atavistic stereotype and detracts from both the funnier and more considered elements of the story.
One of the most delightful aspects of Roses to the Living is its exuberant playfulness. Its light-hearted “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach feels fully in tune with the original plucky spirit of the Fringe and is fully enjoyable.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
