Sleeping Trees at the Movies

Flavour of the day: Sci-fi.

Sleeping Trees at the Movies

The much loved Sleeping Trees are performing a trio of shows this year; Mafia, Western and Sci-Fi. I caught Sci-Fi and I now understand why everyone raves about the group.

It was slow to get going and, cramped in the nearly sold out King Dome, I was momentarily concerned that I was going to have to sit through another hour of mediocre sketch. Those concerns were soon proven to be premature, because as the three performers got going, the audience were collectively transported to a galaxy far, far away.

The story was a pretty standard affair - there is a villain who wants to take over the world, a chosen one destined to stop him and a myriad of quirky side characters. Oh, and the love interest who is considered beyond the reach of our hero.

On its own, it would be a very bland show, but the way the three really bring the characters to life, through their physicality, movement and voices, truly set the show apart. The creativity employed to bring the world to life, accompanied by the live music that perfectly set the atmosphere, was phenomenal. Even something as subtle as a slight change in someone's walk perfectly signifies that there has been a scene change.

Even though there are no props used in Sci-Fi, you never feel as though the show is lacking because of it. Everything works just through the power of imagination and mime, and I absolutely love it. It ensured the focus is always on them and not the set.

Best of all, you could see that they loved what they were doing. There were a few moments they broke character to laugh at one of the group screwing around, with overly dramatic actions catching everyone off-guard and there then was a battle to retain control as the audience falls about laughing.

If they just tightened up that start it would be a perfect show.


For tickets and more information visit the Ed Fringe website.

Author

Tom Inniss

Tom Inniss Voice Team

Tom is the Editor of Voice. He is a politics graduate and holds a masters in journalism, with particular interest in youth political engagement and technology. He is also a mentor to our Voice Contributors, and champions our festivals programme, including the reporter team at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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