So Young at Traverse Theatre – Edinburgh Fringe review

The plot for So Young almost sounds like something Edward Albee would cook up: two couples in varying circumstances prepare for a dinner party, one that invariably ends up containing boozing, arguments, passive aggression, exposed relationship angst and workplace woes.

In practice, playwright Douglas Maxwell is pulling off something remarkably different in this impressive, one-act four-hander. It is the summer of 2021. Liane and Davie, celebrating their fitful bouts of sex after decades of marriage, head over to visit the recently bereaved Milo. Liane was Milo’s ex-wife Helen’s best friend, and the two couples were as firm as ancient breezeblocks. That is, until Helen’s shattering death three months prior: immunocompromised and succumbing to Covid. Expecting a cathartic, yet sorrowful reunion, Liane is rocked to find that Milo has cracked on with a younger woman, 20-year-old Greta, following a rapid online dalliance.

While intergenerational quibbles and romantic revelations are all on offer here, where the show really excels is in presenting a haunting eulogy to the power of female friendship, and when that friendship evolves into its own specific kind of love. It’s a topic never really placed at the heart of a play: thankfully Maxwell does just that.

He is also unafraid to directly confront the pandemic – that sense of loss, the surreal, half-empty funerals that many had to attend. Few plays have so deftly tackled this incredibly specific chapter in 21st-century life, but they’re excellently handled here.

As to be expected from a Traverse show and the text, performances are witty and naturalistic: the show always feels assured without being overambitious. Director Gareth Nicholls knows to play it safe: his cast of Andy Clark, Yana Harris, Nicholas Karimi and Lucianne McEvoy are never show-y but find the humour nestled in Maxwell’s text. An excellent instalment in a remarkably successful year for the larger Traverse venue. 

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