John Scott continues his exploration of the Edinburgh Fringe with Duane Forrest and David Head
Duane Forrest – The Climb
This is not the first time that Canadian-Jamaican singer/songwriter has brought The Climb to the Fringe but what started as a theatre piece with a small cast of supporting actors has now been honed into a one-man performance with just Duane and his guitar taking centre stage.
To the accompaniment of light, jazzy guitar chords, Forrest draws us into his story and his warm voice and easy smile soon have the audience captured. Climb is a deeply personal autobiographical piece centring around Forrest’s travels around the world both as a charity worker and a musician and three women; Mariela, Kay and Zoriamil who each have a profound effect on him.
Duane meets Mariela in Mexico. There is an attraction between them but she makes it clear that he is going to have to earn her affection. She tells him: “I’m an apple high up in a tree, if you want to be with me, you’ll have to climb”. Life takes Duane and Mariela in different directions but they remain friends and he has learned from her the importance of respect in a relationship, for himself as well as his partner.
Without giving too much of Duane’s story away, he meets Kay in Honduras, they fall in love and have a long-term relationship but finding himself increasingly frustrated, Duane breaks up with Kay. Wracking guilt following a one-night stand with Zoriamil makes him realise that he has made a terrible mistake but can he repair his relationship with Kay?
Forrest punctuates his story with songs in light bossa nova or reggae styles. What gives Climb its emotional depth though is Forrest’s unflinching honesty about his failings, the hurt he has caused and the impact on his mental health. As Forrest continues his travels around the world, these issues find some sort of resolution but it’s hard not to conclude that each performance of Climb is a personal penance for Forrest; one performed willingly and without a shred of self-pity.
There is much to like in Climb. Forrest is charismatic and very relatable. He is a talented singer and songwriter and his story is thought-provoking and moving. Sharing Forrest’s life-changing story may not change yours but it’s an hour well spent.
Distant Memories of the Near Future
Writer/Performer David Head tells five overlapping stories to show us a future in which human relationships have been inextricably linked with technological advances. To ensure that everyone will benefit from a happy, fulfilled life (with the resulting productivity and economic benefits for the world’s governments) compulsory registration on dating app Q-Pid, which guarantees to find the optimal match of life partner, is introduced. There are unintended consequences: what happens when curiosity gets the better of people already in fulfilling, committed relationships and Q-Pid finds that there is an even more perfect partner waiting out there? And for those looking for a bit of a diversion from their perfect partner (it happens) Babeotics offers a humanoid alternative, a cyborg side-chick.
Monetisation is the name of the game. Wonderbox will, for a fee obviously, digitise your voice so that it can live on for your loved ones on the condition that it can also then be sold on for use by AI-fronted advertising.
This not-too-distant future is, of course, a satire on our present. Head’s humour lies in our recognition that these scenarios are an exaggerated extension of the technology that we are already comfortable buying into every day.
Head tells these tales as part of a multimedia experience. Twin screens introduce us to Q-Pid, Wonderbox and Babeotics through their advertising campaigns and a story about the development of an AI-generated avatar uses real present-day AI technology, specially developed for the show.
Head doesn’t play it all for laughs. Mining for space diamonds is a thing in this future and a story about a space miner stranded on an asteroid and mourning for her late wife as her air supply runs out is deeply poignant. Perhaps the radio waves beaming out from Earth will carry her voice to her one last time.
John Scott
