QUICKFIRE FRINGE: #2. A Sudden Burst of Blinding Light

★★★☆☆

A Sudden Burst of Blinding Light by waveysoc theatre company is a bizarre frenzy of events. It follows the story of a ticket collecting girl named Jude who meets a magician named Leon, a friendship which they look back on whilst participating in a Hunger Games Capitol-esque game show hosted by a manic double act, Fizz and Terry. From the start the performers brought a great amount of energy and conviction which continued throughout and they were definitely the highlight of the performance for me, yet there was a just a general lack of clarity in the actual execution of the play as a whole, particularly transitioning between flashbacks and the game show, that made everything a little hazy and uncertain. It's a play about mental illness. yet I found it difficult to pinpoint any particular point being made on this in amongst the frantic events throughout. From it's initial soaring energy I really hoped it would lift off and reach some kind of fulfilling peak as it was clearly endlessly rehearsed and meticulously blocked, yet something about the pacing didn't feel quite right and too many moments felt less like the sudden burst of blinding light I had hoped for and more like a damp sparkler. Ultimately, there's a lot of potential for the play and the performers that just wasn't completely met here but I think could be in the future.