By Ryan Hopkins
Little One presented by Room and Board Theatre Company and written by Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch in 2011 is a small of wonder of play that fits in snugly with the other shows at The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. It is directed wonderfully simple by Lisa Hall Hagen. I knew I was in for a treat with this show as I had seen both Kacey Spadafora and Hailey Nebeker perform before, always to excellent effect. The two play siblings, one of whom seems your average guy and the other who is deeply disturbed to chilling effect.
Spadafora plays Aaron, who is the surrogate for the audience into this odd dark little world that the play creates. His sincerity makes everything absolutely real, which not only made me understand the horror of the show, but also gave us some great dark comedic moments, which are much needed with the dark subject matter of the show. Nebeker is absolutely magnetic. She is wonderfully odd in the way she can deliver a line or move through the space. This all adds up to an off-putting performance that is perfect for what the character has undergone.
The direction by Hagen is simple yet has a fluid elegance to it. This helps with the nature of flowing in and out of the past and present and the spaces of the two characters. These spaces are clearly defined by props designated to the characters, such as the building blocks that Claire uses throughout that may have significance in her building trust or trying to build a new life after the trauma she may have suffered in childhood. The only thing I might have liked to see was to lean a little more into the sinister side of the show to give it an extra punch to the gut. Go and see the deliciously creepy Little One next weekend at the The Gateway in Salt Lake City.
Room and Board Theatre Company presents Little One by Hannah Moscovitch at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival
The Gateway, 110 S Rio Grande St, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
August 11 3:00 PM, August 12 7:30 PM
Festival Admission $5, show tickets $10
Room and Board Theater Company Facebook Page
Little One Facebook Event
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