Words: Libby Taylor
Image: Pamela Raith

5 stars

Produced by Paines Plough, and written by Ed Edwards (Fringe First-Winning England & Son, A Political History of Smack & Crack), Ordinary Decent Criminal started with a bang and continued to impress throughout.

Mark Thomas immediately drew the audience in with his high energy and captivating stage presence. His physical and vocal transformations into different characters were seamless in this solo performance. He brought pace and enabled deeper character development than would have been possible with a wider cast. Thomas brought his stage experience from his comedy career to enhance the show. He quickly impressed the crowd when switching in and out of character to give a plot summary and catch up an audience member who had crept in late. The moments of audience engagement brought even more laughter and investment to the piece.

The script had a brilliant balance of intensity broken up by light-hearted moments, which made it feel an honest representation of the complicated nature of offenders’ lives and relationships. The pacing was brisk, but by limiting the number of characters involved, it was possible to pick up at later moments any of the storyline that may have been missed. The minimal set was incredibly effective, with changes cleverly incorporated into the scenes. And the lights and the sound effects were expertly timed. They complemented the “simple, but significant” approach taken to the piece. I particularly enjoyed the innovative placement of lighting within the set.

A must-see once again from Ed Edwards and Mark Thomas.

Ordinary Decent Criminal
Tech Cube 0 @ Summerhall
11:50, 19:30
7-25 Aug