52 Pick Up

Gemma Wilcox Productions / London, UK & Boulder, CO

By: TJ Dawe & Rita Bozi Posted: 9:20 PM CDT Sunday, Jul. 19, 2009

Take a deck of cards. Shuffle it. Throw it on the ground. Now make it a play: in 52 Pick Up (first seen here at the 2006 fringe), each card represents a snapshot from a mundane relationship. All will be performed by the show’s end, pulled off the floor at random.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/07/2009 (5901 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s an exciting, daunting concept, and in the superbly natural hands of fringe fave Gemma Wilcox and amiable co-star Sam Elmore, it’s no mere gimmick. This is provocative, eerily personal theatre.

The scenes are brisk, some no more than 20 seconds long, and they are achingly (or hilariously) familiar. There’s the awkward first home invite — “If you think this is messy, you should see my place” — the tense silences, and the inside jokes that aren’t funny to anyone else. And, of course, there’s the fighting.

As Wilcox and Elmore sailed through the story, we almost doubted that the scenes were not in scripted order: the exposition seemed too thoughtfully crafted. But therein lies the beauty. The scenes are random, but so intimate that the viewer’s memories fill in the gaps.

Let the cards fall where they may; this show is worth the price.

— Melissa Martin

From the official Fringe program:

Gemma Wilcox (creator of Best of Fest ‘Honeymoon Period’, ‘Shadows in Bloom’) returns, with Sam Elmore, to perform TJ Dawe’s hit show!

52 cards. 52 scenes about a relationship. Two actors shuffle, throw, pick up and play all 52 scenes.

NO TWO SHOWS THE SAME!

Best of Fest – Boulder Fringe 2008

“Ingenious…this show is crisp”-Daily Camera