The Toll

This is a very difficult show to market on the Fringe; a new American comedy staged in a small studio on Chambers Street is hardly one that can be paraded up and down the Royal Mile.

The action is all set in toll booths in Massachusetts, focusing on the pressures and the people involved. The ensemble play a number of different characters, from people working on the booths through to caricatures of drivers passing through. Although it’s a fascinating insight to a world that most audiences at Fringe know nothing about, it’s hard to emotionally connect with the plot, and after a while it all begins to drag. There’s some lovely staging, but a lot of the humour falls flat, simply not being something that many of us here can connect with.

There’s some brilliant dialogue, some moving performances (particularly from Tim Sullivan who is fantastic throughout), and the play is clearly written with comedic skill. Fringe however is not quite the appropriate platform for this piece, and what in a different setting and context could be powerful, is just not snappy enough to cut it here.

– Chris Wheeler