by Anna Grace Symington, Edfringe Review
★★★★★
Utterly unlike anything this reviewer has seen at the Fringe before, Pathos: Can You Kill For Love? is a masterpiece of its kind. Taking the theme of murder in the name of love, director Ester Montalto has created a fascinating piece of art that is at once beautiful and terrible.
The performance makes use mainly of mime and masks but also incorporates dance. It is divided into six scenes which each feature, at the centre, two characters – a male part and a female part. This provides the foundations necessary to explore the psychology behind the passionate and jealous lover. Massamilliano Angioni and Fransesco Saitta play the parts of these two characters, entering each scene in different simple guises and portraying the interactions between two lovers at various stages in a relationship. Each scene contains an element of jealousy which suggests it is a universal feature of romance. The scenes work together to reach a tragic climax that wonderfully capitulates one’s fragility when it comes to love.
There are no spoken words in this play but some almost distinguishable mumblings in a variety of languages, including French, are used as a form of communication between the characters at points. The decision not to use spoken words intensifies the importance of the physical – appropriate in a play about passion – and gives the piece a universality that raises it above other productions.
Music also plays an important part in this production. With Italian, French, Spanish, Mongolian and Thai influences, to name just a few, the intensity of the experience is held up by the excellently selected music. Each piece is redolent of the passion of its country of origin. Having the whole spectrum again gives the play universality. This is not just a play about Italian lovers but about lovers of the world.
Angioni and Saitta both give impressive performances. Their grace and athleticism make each movement precise and meaningful. Without words it quickly becomes evident how much is said with the body alone. Angioni and Saitta are able to communicate such a range of meanings that if feels at times as if they really are speaking to one another.
Pathos: Can You Kill For Love? brings something awe inspiring to the Fringe. It’s only here until 9th August so don’t miss the opportunity to see this exquisite performance.