The Silencer
THEATRE
The Silencer – David Calvitto
3 stars ***
Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)
DAVID CALVITTO of New York is one of the most admired and acclaimed solo actors on the Edinburgh Fringe; and he certainy sets himself a tough challenge in this new monologue by Rachel Neuburger, set out there in the badlands where those who are still single over 30 – or 40, or even 50 – try to find love through online dating sites. Lurking behind the play is the near-universal fear that anyone who is still single in middle life must be weird, impossible, or seriously disturbed; and the character Calvitto develops through this one-hour soliloquy gradually morphs before our eyes from a decent fortysomething guy just looking for a partner – and encountering some very strange women along the way – into something much more sinister.
It’s a fine and chilling performance, brilliantly directed by Michael Sexton of NY Public Theater. In the end, though, it’s surprisingly hard to feel that it carries any real meaning, beyond a fashionable fascination with the ultimate act of violence. Because people looking for love in their forties are not all nuts; and the purpose of art is to do something more radical than reinforce the kinds of fears nurtured by the junk media, every day of our lives.
Joyce McMillan
Until 26 August
p. 319
ENDS ENDS
Joyce McMillan is theatre critic of 
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