Alex Kelly‘s very personal tale of following his grandfather’s footsteps to visit Cape Wrath is a lovely, gentle way to spend an hour.
Sitting with 13 other people in a stationary minibus creates an odd feeling of companionship and camaraderie as you all share a little one-off experience completely separate from the few people milling around, going about their business outside.
Beginning with letters from his grandfather’s trip and then explaining how he recreated it, there’s no real sense of drama in the story, just a man paying tribute to an important figure in his life. Sharing chocolate, reading maps and doing his grandfather’s self-created word puzzles there’s a sensation that we too, in some tiny way, have now been a part of this historical voyage.
Kelly has a sweet, likeable persona although his awkwardness, while endearing, can sometimes make the audience a little ill at ease. His movement around the bus, both inside and out, adds variety to the structure but feels both a little unnecessary and a little awkward. The hour would benefit from some more visual elements, photographs perhaps, and a little more continuity in the audience’s involvement.
Kelly could do with establishing his presence and his tale a little more firmly at the top of the piece, just to help the audience settle down and relax into the story. But, at the end of the hour, we all filed out of the bus warmed to the core by Kelly’s heartfelt tale.
Cape Wrath continues at Northern Stage at St. Stephens until 24 August
