Edinburgh Fringe
Pleasance Online
From 6th Aug, 2021

I was happy to begin my Edinburgh Fringe journey with an online one person play called ‘Push’. Performed by Tamsin Hurtado Clarke and Directed by Scarlett Plouviez the play was to be something special triggering a good feeling inside myself. For the Fringe this was filmed in a studio as a new breed of filmed theatre has come into play during the pandemic. ‘Push’ was to master this new media.

It began with a greatly realistic scene of a woman (Tamsin) peeing on a pregnancy test. She wore a long white coat and with the completely white back ground the stage (or studio) was set. First there was a little narrative then speedily on to the affluent dialogue of realised comedy, with that realness and with a kind of fast ska she released herself with great pros and cons about pregnancy.

She danced, smoked moving in and out of her thoughts of being a mother letting us into her trimesters, and there effects. Captured on camera in close ups with walk away’s, smiling, frowning, letting us into the absolute core of her head and heart. In an offering of some greatly descriptive acts of giving birth, raising a child to a depth that made me feel proud of her in her act.

The production used every semblance there is in the art of theatre coupled with camera work and synchronised dance movements all coming together as scenes of a whole. There was poetry in her dialogue; repetitions rolling from her tongue. Tick tock she exclaimed tick tock tick tock. So humanly she entranced us offering an unforgiving relevance between loving and loathing her own child.

After taking off her coat to reveal her bathing suit (bare feet) the air of her act appeared to hold a thrill with no detrimental effects though it took her through it alright. The direction, composition and dialogue dancing were all a work of heart that was praiseworthy, all of which coming as we viewed her gentleness, her courage her beautiful fragility and with that strength.

Her amazing mind imagined every detail of what she needed, how she and her child were to be together. In detail took us through iconic scenes one of which had a spotlight that looked like a doorway and she and her child were its shadows. Included were the coming hardships, as she doubted, forgot and beautifully let us into to a play of such wonder as to cover a great deal of wonderful theatre with something that was perfectly written and so created a perfect performance.

As a child is perfect, as a mother who delights is perfect and as a woman undone finds her strength as she nearly threw up during the performance to take a seat and give us a most amazing look is perfect. The delights of taking this in will have you taken to the heights of theatre, film and she will impress you thrillingly with the gentlest insight of the real miracle she is looking to perform. Her form on camera made her small and big, telling a sophisticated story in itself, we were left beside ourselves with joy.

Reviewer: Daniel Donnelly