Review – Altar Ego

Altar Ego is a series of vignettes about marriage and relationships, told by both genders. Some were incredibly funny, others almost deadly serious.

Author and Actor, James Lyons, freely admits in his notes that it “deals with hackneyed subject matter.” Maybe so but some of the vignettes offered a twist that stopped the production from being predictable or, that worst of Fringe sins, boring. Kudos to both James and Melanie Lyons, as a married couple exploring the marriage minefield they must have lived through some interesting times during the rehearsal process.

I got the feeling that I was watching a highly polished drama class production or showcase, where each actor gets to ‘do a bit’ and have their moment in the spotlight. As it turns out this is how the production began, as a classroom setting. This does not detract from it being an enjoyable and thought-provoking piece of theatre. Particularly in the ‘Design Flaw’ segment, powerful stuff beautifully told.