Words: Kiera Harper
Image: Geraint Lewis

4 Stars

Tom Brennan’s Overtone explores relationships, love and trauma through the lens of two people who met as teens after choir practice. Told in a non-linear style, the audience follows a couple in the present day who seem perfect but slowly break down at a dinner as the story weaves through scenes of their younger selves struggling through their teen years together.

Overtones’ story is deeply complex and gripping from beginning to end. Since it’s told non-linearly, audiences are pulled in by their desire to know why the couple have been shaken, which, once it’s fully realised, causes old wounds to reopen and possibly not be mended. 

With brilliant performances by Claire Dargo and Scott Fletcher, this show unpacks trauma in a realist way. That is, it resurfaces at any time, and there’s no way to push it down. Watching Dargo and Fletcher’s characters remember how they were used as teens is chilling and captivating, often leaving audiences uncomfortable with the reality of the situation. The discomfort makes this show so much more powerful, as it dwells on the things we’d rather not talk about, emphasising that they have to be spoken about, or else we’re all just pressure cookers waiting to explode.

While transitions could’ve been smoother from the younger to the older timeline, the story and performances bring to light the idea that healthy relationships can be dark and uncomfortable. Still, it’s in sitting with that unease together that you realise how much love there is.

Overtone is a powerful show about confronting the past with great performances that navigate the naivety and deep discomfort of growing up. The story is most impactful when you go in knowing little about the plot.

Overtone 
Jack Dome at Pleasance Dome
14:40
5^th – 30^th August (no performances on the 12^th, 19^th and 26^th)