By Cal
Link: https://distanceremaining.com/categories/upcoming-online-performances
Available until: Shows at 7.30pm on Wednesday 5th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th and Saturday 8th May at 7.30pm and on Sunday 9th at 2.30pm. Available for 48 hours from the time your performance goes live.
Age guidance: 14+ (strong language)
Distance Remaining is about three people. They all have a distance they need to travel. It’s physical and it’s psychological. They want to get there, but it’s not easy – and perhaps they can’t do it alone.
Jess has fallen in her home. The pain is bad. She isn’t a young person, but she does have a mobile phone. The problem is, she’s on the floor and the phone is on the table. It’s technically only a short distance away, but it’s not going to be easy for Jess to get there.
Lindsay is volunteering by delivering shopping supplies to people who are shielding. The people don’t really seem to appreciate what she’s doing for them – and to be fair, they don’t seem to be expecting her so they clearly haven’t been involved in the decision. Lindsay has further to travel, more bags of food to deliver and she has a lot on her mind.
Cam is on the beach. He’s looking for his dog, Cosmo, but he’s disappeared. Cam doesn’t know where else to look and he’s haunted by memories of the past which have held him back from being the person he wants to be. He needs help, but asking for help isn’t always easy.
Writer Stewart Melton has created three very distinct characters, all with their own way of speaking and their own way of talking to themselves, which allows them to be true to their character while giving us all the information we need. I like the way that many of the usual assumptions are turned on their heads. The young man might be expected to be okay just because he’s young and male, but he’s struggling. The older people – Jess and some of the people Lindsay visits - clearly have a mind of their own and know exactly what they want and they’re not necessarily going to let people or circumstances stop them. Reckless, perhaps, at times. But you can’t help admiring them.
Director Caitlin Skinner sets the scene brilliantly for each story. You can tell a lot about the characters just from looking at the scene, the props and the characters themselves. There is a lot more to be discovered by watching and listening, and our first impressions aren’t always accurate, but Caitlin always gives her audience a really good starting point. Stewart’s script is great, but Caitlin gives the characters time and space just to be themselves.
Dolina MacLennan makes Jess into a real fighter. She is only human and she’s in pain so of course she struggles, but her determination is inspiring and impressive. Lindsay is a character who could easily have seemed overbearing and self-obsessed, but Karen Dunbar shows her sense of isolation and need for human contact in a rather touching way. Reuben Joseph is a vulnerable but absolutely lovely Cam. I grew to care about all three of them.
A really lovely, interesting and beautifully-filmed play.
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