FAKE (Elysium Theatre Company)***

   

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVWP265YLvA 

Available until: Forever

There are a lot of conspiracy theories going around at the moment. I think there always have been. It’s probably not just recently that people have been saying the moon landings are fake. But now it’s got a bit more dangerous. Some people don’t believe the coronavirus is real and that means they’re risking people’s lives.

It’s easy to believe these people just aren’t very intelligent but I’m not sure about that. Marion in Fake knows all the conspiracies – and she believes them. Some of them have been proved to be false but only if you trust the people who investigated it. I don’t really believe in conspiracy theories but they do make me think that a lot of what we know is based on trusting people we don’t know.

Marion doesn’t seem stupid. Her brain goes in unusual directions but it seems to work well enough. She does like to search for proof. The problem is more that if you want proof of anything, you can usually find it on the internet even if it’s not proof at all. The internet can be brilliant but it can also be like a friend who only tells you what you want to hear.

Chris Barlas’ script probably doesn’t have anything we don’t already know but I don’t think we need to learn something in every play. What he has done is to create a fun and really likeable character. Marion is proof that you shouldn’t judge on appearances. Or on any other first impressions. And that you shouldn’t necessarily dismiss someone completely just because they hold different views from you.

Karren Winchester plays Marion and director Jake Murray takes her through lots of different emotions. Karren performs them all really convincingly and even if you feel annoyed with Marion about the conspiracy theories, I think you will sympathise with her too.

This is the first monologue in the second volume of the Covid-19 monologues. There are five uploaded and the first series is still available too. They cover a big range of subjects and they’re all really interesting.