★★★
Inspired by writer, creator and performer Piers MacKenzie’s experiences of working as a Deliveroo driver, Courier is a one-man show delving into a man’s fractured mind. At first, MacKenzie seems like an average Deliveroo driver, supplying households across Cornwall with copious amounts of fried chicken every day. But this is not the light comedy it first appears to be: MacKenzie takes us down a series of twists and turns, where nothing is as it seems.
MacKenzie portrays a variety of characters with ease. From a former colleague who doesn’t have the heart to tell his wife he’s been sacked, so dons his uniform and cycles around all day, to a child who is obsessed with bikes and begs him for some popcorn chicken, each character is very unique, emphasising the range of people a delivery driver meets on a daily basis. He is a very charismatic and talented performer.
The staging is simple, but surprisingly effective. When MacKenzie is in his flat talking to a Deliveroo driver, and then a neighbour, he uses the theatre’s door as his front door. The other characters are projected onto the curtain behind them. These clips have been filmed through a fisheye lens, which really makes you feel like you are looking through a peephole. Although it isn’t a particularly novel idea, it really elevates the performance, making it stand out against the myriad of one-man shows at the Fringe.
The dark twists and turns have potential, but end up being very hard to follow. The first hint that something is wrong is when he is mistaken for a costume party guest and ushered into a flat, but the birthday girl, who was flirting with him a few hours earlier, does not recognise him. From here, things escalate quickly: one minute he is the driver, and the next he is the customer. It leaves us questioning what is real, and what is imaginary.
The characterisation is strong, and the concept is intriguing, but together they are disjointed. It’s not clear exactly who the child addressing him at the end is, or what MacKenzie was ultimately trying to achieve. I left Courier feeling confused, which is disappointing considering how MacKenzie’s strong acting reeled me in.
Courier will be performed at ZOO Playground – Playground 1 until 24 August as part of Edinburgh Fringe.
Words by Ellen Leslie
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