Considering that I was still slightly tipsy from a three-hour black-tie formal when I stumbled into the ADC’s F’Line, I would have predicted that my state of mind would have pre-disposed me to be mellower about this rather quirky debut. Unfortunately, I was not impressed by F’Line. F’Line was always fated to be a risky, not to mention, mammoth task. The description of a “story about a lonely town (probably), a shoebox (possibly) and the driving theory test (hopefully)” made me dubious – but what really quibbled was the one-man performance aspect. Alex MacKeith, was the sole producer, scriptwriter, director, and actor, and it was a brave feat indeed.

The narrative follows a man on a quest to find the owner of the cat whom he runs over in an ill-fated prang. This sees him venture into the lonely town of Netherburn in which he meets an assortment of the amusing and perplexing characters including two polyamorous, geriatric burglars, and a French ice-skater chasing lost glory and his ring of trained skating cats. 

Firstly, I must say that MacKeith’s characterisation was absolutely superb. His dazzling array of accents and body language left me in no doubt that he was a truly class actor, and for one man to perform so many personalities, all believable, all funny, all giving the very credible impression of dialogue, is not an achievement I underrate. However, it very quickly became the case of one man showing how many different personalities he could assume and exercising his thespian talents – it was more a show of skill than a gripping narrative. As a play with the characters portrayed by a full cast, it would have been very sub-standard – the merit of F’Line is not its storyline or scriptwriting, but the fact that it was performed by one man, one man who is an excellent actor.

This is not to say that the writing was not good – at times it bordered on the brilliant with some really cracking jokes; but for the most part the humour simply cruised into the flat and mediocre. Admittedly the audience adored it and every line was met with a chorus of laughter. But it was the storyline – or really, lack of – that was F’Line’s true downfall. It felt like a patchwork of disjointed and random scenes: a badly-thought out sketch show of one rather than a play – but, to be fair, with only one performer, establishing a detailed and stable narrative must be incredibly difficult.

Alex MacKeith is certainly talented, brave, and (slightly over-) ambitious as an actor; but ultimately and regrettably as a play F’Line simply didn’t work.