Adapting the complicated works of Italo Calvino into a one-man show is not only the sort of thing that’s doomed to failure, but destined to the sort of catastrophe that can make good art, which is very much a space STARBURST loves to examine. QFWFQ (pronound Kwiff-Wiff by the performer) is a valiant attempt at adapting the 1979 novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller. The book is a fourth-wall breaking story about the reader trying (and failing) to find the book there are currently reading. This show attempts a similar sort of thing.
QFWFQ starts with some fourth wall rambling about the nature of the fringe itself and a short humorous bit about the venue, Summerhall, which is a famously unusual venue. (Indeed, the stage we saw this on is called the “Former Gents Locker Room”, which should give you a rough feel for the space. ) The show then begins again. And again.
This is a show that’s constantly resetting itself. The idea is that it’s a show searching for a show, so the artist will go off on what seems to be an intensely personal rant and then complain that the script is wrong, phone up the script supplier and then embark on another tangent. It’s a nice framing device for what are essentially a series of loosely connected routines which do pull together at the end.
QFWFQ is very clever but also very flawed. The stories themselves are intensely personal, and the show veers from personal experiences to modern politics to musical taste and then to global tragedy at points. It’s messy. The narrative is filled with a very modern anxiety that breaks the flow. Incredibly passionate and sympathetic it may be, but the emotional rollercoaster we embark on feels too fast and too dark, breaking the flow. The production is very tight and superbly directed.
Gregory Nussen’s performance is stunning and powerful stuff. This is a show we recommend you go see and then take a break afterwards; it’s a lot to digest. (Fortunately, the venue we saw it at does some great food.) QFWFQ will stay with you for a long time.
Tickets for QFWFQ can be booked here, and you can find out more about the production here.
