Home or travel? Certainty or risk? These questions and others are posed and opposed in J.A. Wainwight’s Feathers and Loam, an extrapolation of the Icarus myth that sees the young dreamer surviving his plunge and debating his world view with a ploughman, his wife, a painter and his muse. While the ideas are interesting, I fear that with a lesser cast, all the talk, talk, talking might not hold my interest. But that’s not the case with this fringe production starring Rhys Bevan-Bevan John, Eric Benson, Ann Doyle, Allison MacDougall and Shawn Duggan. These actors breathe life into words and create scenes and relationships with the sweep of a hand or the tilt of a head. I suggest that before you see this play that you google the 16th century painter Pieter Breugel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” and study it closely. By setting the scene, you’ll derive even more enjoyment from the already enjoyable experience.
All current Atlantic Fringe Festival Reviews can be read here.
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2009.