One in Four is an American comedy theatre show set in Portland.
Sid has a flat, and he’s got three flatmates moving in today. Over the course of the hour, we meet the flatmates, and, as may be expected, much hilarity ensues as four strangers try to get to know each other. The twist is that each of the characters is an alien – yes, from other planets – and they’re operating under the assumption that the other three people are totally, 100% human. As relative newcomers to Earth, they each try to act in ways they believe humans do. All of this makes a great recipe for total chaos and some quick-moving moments of farce.
Although it’s momentarily slightly confusing as to what’s going on, it quickly becomes clear that we’re in a world where we know more than the characters do and then watch as they discover that truth.
Sid (Dixon Cashwell: Legends & Lies), who wears a particularly vibrant Hawaiian shirt, is the computer geek who makes furious notes about Earth and its inhabitants to report to his extraterrestrial superiors.
It turned out that Cashwell had suffered an injury and was using crutches. This only became apparent in the bows, and until then, it had just seemed like Sid was a person who didn’t move around much.
There had been some clever workarounds for this, incorporated so smoothly that it wasn’t until after the show that these became apparent. These choices also assisted to give an overall Mork and Mindy vibe to the show.
The first flatmate to arrive was the enigmatic Chandler Matkins (Nothin To It; Figure It Out), whose character has to make bringing a huge plastic sheet onto the stage seem natural. The sheet is to cover a water-based moment of slapstick later in the script and reflects the difficult nature of staging any show at the Edinburgh Fringe when the get-in and get-out times are so tight.
That Matkins manages to somehow make the unfolding of the sheet seem like a perfectly natural manifestation of his character’s quirks is testimony to his abilities as a performer.
Of course, Nurse Carrie (Becky Granger: When They See Us) is not a nurse and appears to have gained any medical knowledge she may have from watching medical dramas on TV. She gets involved in many of the most farcical moments, being called upon to be the other part of that water-based moment with Matkins’ nerd.
The fourth flatmate is Texan Lucy (Jenna Kray: Mare of Eastown), and that’s her entire personality. The four characters differing understandings of how humans are supposed to behave, mixed with their deep need to not blow their own cover, provides much of the humour.
The script is not especially strong, and there’s one scene that’s at the very least bordering on problematic – a moment where Sid and Lucy highlight this feels like another amendment to the script as written. However, it’s possible we’re being disingenuous here.
What makes this production so strong, and the humour so on point, is the acting, along with the direction and the specifics of the staging. The comic timing is realised to perfection, and the hour passes with pace and energy.
Referencing Seinfeld, as well as American sitcom tropes more broadly, this is a fun and fantastical story, that perhaps thinks it has more to say about the human condition than is actually realised. For all its flaws, though, in the hands of this company, it’s entertaining. We look forward to whatever work they produce in the future.
Find out about future productions from Dog Stuff here.
