Ladies and Gentlemen, the review of Beyond the Edge by Paul Symonloe is about to begin. Please note that this review is based on reading the play text and is not based on a performance.
Beyond The Edge is described as “An optimistic school drama about climate change” (Taken from the script). The play has 6 characters who all have their own motive / deep backstory. At some point in the play, these backstories comes to the forefront of the play.
The themes of climate change are present throughout the play and the text is written to the target audience. However, sometimes this may be underestimating the intelligence of the children. The constant bickering is like that of school children. But I think this could be adapted depending on the age of the audience. Some older students may find this a bit distant as the dialogue is immature.
The religious undertones of scene two, which comes after a rather lengthy scene one, appear to be over riding the question of climate change. There is a 180 degree flip from religious quotation and questioning faith to the rather inappropriate conversation about reproduction and one of the students having a spell on someone. At first, this seems to detract from the meaning. I suddenly lose the climate crisis conversation and it becomes a splintered discussion around faith and reproduction, lack of identity and a rather confusing dynamic between teachers. However, this is brought back to the issue of climate change as a discussion of over population and consumption.
All of these conversations are completely solid in their own right. They all stand as starting points on their own. I can imagine that the discussion that comes from it will be interesting to hear. I just question the need to include them all in the same play.
Although the play is short, I believe due to needing a connection with the audience and maintaining a younger person’s attention, there are a lot of interesting conversations that are raised. Although this piece is advertised as a play about climate change, I believe it is home to more topics than a conversation about climate. The deep and meaningful discussions amongst the characters around identity and faith, for example, could be made into their own plays. It would be good to see these issues given enough time to provide a deeper analysis or discussion around these areas.
The rating!
I think that this play has great potential to start some interesting conversations and allow students of all ages to discuss the different contributing factors of climate change. I do think an adapted version of primary and secondary ages would be useful. This would allow for different situations and language to be used.
Overall I would say this is a good play, based on reading the script. If there was a change in language depending on the age of the audience, this would help in maintaining the attention of an audience. It would also let the audience feel more acknowledged if they had their own version based on age.
* This review was written upon request of the author of the play. Although this is not performance based, I think it is still good to see this kind of work reaching schools and I actively encourage open discussions around the climate. This is why I chose to accept this review opportunity, despite the lack of performance. This review was not compensated for, and is something I have chosen to do. There is no star rating due to the lack of performance. This is work for educational value not for entertainment, so a star rating is not appropriate. *
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Alyx Taylor-Scott