Fringe Festival Review: DOMESTIC

There’s so much right going on with DOMESTIC, it’s hard to know where to start talking about it. Without spoiling anything (although you will probably guess something is amiss from the start), things just aren’t what they seem here. This is a story about love and the fine line between activism and terrorism, but it’s also a story about secrets and whether betrayal is ever a fair tool to use if the final goal seems worthy.

DOMESTIC is a perfect example of how you can make a complex topic work well on a tiny stage with only two actors and just a few props (in fact, there’s very little else on stage besides a table and chair). The play works because the actors know what they’re doing, the writing is clever, and you can actually visualize the entire world of the story through the dialogue. Doug Allen and Tamsin Omond do an amazing job. They’re both talented, they’re sexy together, they’re committed to the story. You believe who they tell you they are and as a result the story comes alive beautifully.

This is perhaps one of the best examples of “minimalistic” theater done right. And proof that true theater requires honest talent and little else to succeed.

[reviewed by Diana Bocco]