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Before, Dance Base, review

August 6, 2019

Performed by Pat Kinevane, Fishamble’s Before is one of the most beautiful shows I’ve seen in a long time. Combining pain and humour with storytelling, dance and song to depict a single man’s fight for paternal rights, Before shows us true theatre craftmanship is still alive and well. 

The story of a father who has not seen his daughter for seventeen years is not necessarily a story of a father who left. Fishamble’s Before is a story of a father who loves his daughter more than anything, and has spent his life hoping to see her again after he has been denied visitations by mother: the girl’s singular legal guardian. Presented at Dance Base, this is a heart-wrenching 90 minutes of physical theatre focusing on the day he’s finally able to see her again – shopping for the perfect gift in a department store that’s about to close for good. 

An ongoing joke about the protagonist’s hatred for musicals is usually expressed exactly in that form: with jazz choreography. Although these numbers don’t always directly add to the story, they’re wonderfully funny – especially for audiences familiar with the wide range of musicals mentioned.

Before allows Pat Kinevane to really showcase his awardwinning skills for both writing and performance. It is an absolute joy to watch him, but due to his ability to portray – truly organically – a broken, imperfect yet hopeful father, it’s almost impossible to leave the auditorium feeling anything other than heart-broken. Lingering in your mind for hours later, Before makes a strong point about father’s rights and their humanity – and is strongly recommended.

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Edinburgh  / Edinburgh Dance  / Edinburgh Musicals  / Edinburgh Performance  / Featured

Žad Novak
Žad Novak is currently studying Comparative Literature and German at the University of Glasgow, with Theatre Studies as her additional subject. When not at university, she volunteers/works as an assistant (to the) director in professional theatres in Zagreb, Glasgow and Berlin. Her passion lies in brining theatre, literature and film from non-English-speaking countries into the spotlight, believing that exposing people to artworks from other places helps battle inequality and xenophobia. She is one of the founders of Glasgow International Student Theatre, a theatre society at University of Glasgow aiming to stage translated plays from around the world. Nevertheless, none of this is to say that she cannot enjoy a good production of Shakespeare. She is deeply, deeply grateful to all the amazing baristas across Edinburgh, the unsung heroes that make her Fringe-Binge possible! When she is not involved in making theatre, she loves to talk about past productions, and complains about missing ‘the theatre life’. Recently, she has found relief in writing reviews. Her family and friends are grateful.

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