Covenant
★★★★☆ Dystopian
Greenside@George Street (Venue 236): Mon 12 – Sat 24 Aug 2024
Review by Allan Wilson.
Covenant, written, directed and produced by Turning Point Theatre Company invites the audience to consider the possibility of a dystopian future in which control over women’s bodies is at an all-time high and existing legislation has been taken to an extreme position.
Bonnie wakes up in the morning, clearly under the weather after a serious party the night before, but this feels different to a regular hangover. She thinks something happened that night, but can’t remember any details. She is soon joined by her flatmates, Rachel and Gen, who are curiously reluctant to answer her questions about what happened. Whenever she tries to ask, they deflect the question by talking about other people at the party. Bonnie admits to having feelings for one of the guests, Josh, whose girlfriend has recently been imprisoned for distributing illegal abortion pills.
The cast of Covenant. Pic: Turning Point Theatre Company,
Bonnie, noticing that the sheets have been removed from her bed, is increasingly anxious to find out what happened to her and refuses to accept the explanation that she wet the bed. She finds a plastic bag, with her blood-stained sheets and demands to know what really happened. Gen is angered by Bonnie’s attitude and accuses her of being “still the same self-centred bitch as ever”. As she calms down, she repeatedly describes the situation as “complicated”.
Rachel is more conciliatory and suggests, unrealistically, that they should just stop bickering, have a cuddle and everything will be OK. Tension reaches a peak as the girls begin to shout across each other, a flashback reveals what happened the night before and the likely consequences for the young women.
vulnerable
The three leads all give excellent performances, portraying the emotions of a very difficult situation, without going “over the top”. Nell Lang plays Bonnie as a strong, self-confident character on the surface, but underneath she is very vulnerable and uncertain about the path she is taking in her life. In contrast, Margot Pue’s Gen is initially a quiet, reserved character, but becomes more outspoken as the play develops. Catriona Tashjian’s Rachel starts as the conciliator between her friends, but increasingly takes the lead as the drama reaches a conclusion.
Turning Point’s direction in a limited space is excellent, incorporating some beautiful movement sequences and soundscapes to raise and lower tension throughout the production.
There is a lot to admire in Covenant, with beautiful writing, skilled direction and first class performances coming together to address issues surrounding the control of women’s bodies. The end result is an emotional, but very satisfying, production.
Running time: 50 minutes (no interval)
Greenside@George Street (Fern Studio), The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, EH2 2PQ (Venue 236)
Monday 12 – Saturday 24 August 2024
Daily (not Sun 18): 12.50 pm
Details and tickets at: Book here
Website: https://turningpointtheatr.wixsite.com
Facebook: @turningpointtheatreco
Instagram: @covenantfringe
TikTok: @covenantfringe
X: @tptheatreco
Linktree: @turningpointtc
ENDS
