Although the reference to the theatre practitioner Stanislavski in the title is more a broad joke than a serious engagement with the use of method acting at the end of the world, Living Room Productions manage to take an unpromising premise – the apocalypse’s impact on the leaders of a theatre camp for children – and work through a sometimes laborious farce with moments of raw humour and poignancy.
Via reverse timeline, the action begins at the end, as the leaders are forced to make dark decisions to survive, before heading back to an ironic moment of optimism. The characterisation is broad but nuanced enough to claim sympathy even for the irritating gang of ambitious camp leaders: the irony of learning acting skills in a world where hunting ability trumps proficiency in stage combat isn’t lost, and the playing out of relationships backwards lends them a more subtle charm.
The juxtaposition of comedy and global destruction doesn’t quite meet the potential for darker comedy, but the theatricality of the characters, and nods to performance genres, will surely speak to Fringe audiences who are familiar with backstage antics and theatre’s foibles. Fast-paced and witty, it’s a rough but playful take on the destruction of civilisation.
Stanislavski Can’t Save Me From The Apocalypse, Greenside @ George Street, until 22 Aug (not 16), 3.05pm