Two Sisters, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh Review
Written by Sarah for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
If you had the opportunity to travel back in time and have a heart-to-heart with your sixteen-year-old self, what would you say? What words of advice would you impart?
It’s a question that has crossed everyone’s minds at some time or another, and sits at the very centre of David Greig’s play Two Sisters (his first original work for the Lyceum since becoming its artistic director in 2016).
The show transports us to ‘Holiday Heaven’, the shabby Scottish coastal caravan park where two very different thirty-something sisters [smartly dressed in contrasting black and white outfits] spent their summers as teenagers, and have now returned decades later.
We are introduced to troubled free-spirit Amy (Shauna Macdonald) and emotionally distant lawyer Emma (Jess Hardwick), and then charismatic caretaker/DJ Lance (Erik Olsson) enters the scene, a 'blast from the past'.
Exploring common themes of youth, longing and growing up, ‘Two Sisters’ unfolds as a sometimes comical, sometimes melancholy trip down memory lane, and with an added element of audience participation (and reflection) —
Pre-show, we are asked to fill out a questionnaire on our sixteen-year-old selves — who we were ‘crushing on’, what we wore, what was ‘alive in our hearts’, etc — and then our answers are anonymously read aloud by the chorus of young people during scene shifts.
It’s a unique and thoughtful idea, but ultimately falters in its rhythm and delivery, interrupting the flow of Greig’s storytelling abilities.
The show regains strength in the undeniable chemistry between its three leads, allowing for character relationships and past memories to be deemed believable, despite the occasionally unfocused dialogue.
MJ McCarthy’s music of varied pop tunes envelops the audience in a wistful indie dream, drenching us in summer nostalgia and pensive longing — the atmosphere is just right!
Perhaps with a shorter running time (the show clocks in at nearly three hours, making scenes feel drawn-out and less meaningful), and slight polish added to script and execution, Two Sisters would hold a lot more power.
At Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh until 2 March.
☆ ☆ ☆
