Damien and Adam are in love. With The Supremes, The Ronnettes, Dolly Parton and Cher. They. Love. Divas. Who doesn’t?!
Divas tells the story of two men and their troubled relationship. Interestingly we hear the story not only from both sides but one starting at the beginning of the relationship and one starting at the break up. Together their story unravels.
Eva Tausig and Kyle Ross perform the piece well as Damian and Adam. The use of handheld microphones gives more of a cabaret type feeling and during dramatic moments where they move away from the microphone, whole sentences can be missed. In a small fringe venue like the Pleasance it was confusing as to why they felt the need for microphones in the first place and unfortunately it gave a sense of separation between the two characters.
The accapella group of singers yet again deflect from the serious and emotional storyline taking place and I would much rather have just heard snippets of the original Diva’s songs being played. The use of pitch pipes before each song was also very distracting and made the singers hard to take seriously as performers.
Divas would make a great little play. It is a good story, acted well and cleverly written so that the characters lines intertwine and take over from each other. Unfortunately the use of backing singers cheapens the whole thing and was unnecessary. I would like to see the show reworked as I think there is some potential here.
Reviewed by West End Wilma
Divas is playing until 31 August 2015 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Pleasance Dome)