Fringe review: SALTY IRINA, Broccoli Arts - Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Photo credit: Alex Brenner

Salty Irina by Eve Leigh is a powerful two hander following two girls who fall in love and set out on a mission to fight the Nazis in their town (unnamed but somewhere in Northern Europe), despite the danger that this puts them in. Directed dynamically by Debbie Hannan and performed exquisitely by Francesca Knight, Hannah van der Westhuysen and Yasemin Özdemir, the show covers great scope in an impressive 70 minutes.

Debbie Hannan creates strong atmosphere throughout the show and carves out the stage with her blocking in an imaginative way, using primarily the actors’ bodies and a few scattered suitcases that come and go. The performances are nuanced and Knight (playing a young fascist at the summer festival) stands out in this trio with an incredibly atmospheric and terrifying entrance in the midpoint of the play that changes the tone of the show right until its finish point.

The play is well written in addressing the dangers of history repeating itself in a chillingly relevant way to 21st century audiences. It is especially effective in that it isn’t specific to its location and by situating its young characters in an unnamed town somewhere in Northern Europe, reveals how any city, time and people (even teenagers) can fall under and into the brainwashing of fascist beliefs.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Viv Williams

Salty Irina plays in Roundabout at Roundabout @ Summerhall at 2.30pm until 27 August.