We’ve Got Time (Fringe review) 3 Stars ***

Beans Garden LLC have brought We’ve Got Time as a work in progress to the Fringe to test it out. There’s a lot of promise but it’s far from the finished package. The story follows Dani, a stand-up comedian who suffers from endometriosis, living with college sweetheart Jarred, also once a comedian, and Molly, her best friend. Danny is walking a very thin tightrope at work which leads to boss Tasha having to let her go whilst starting a relationship with Molly – their blind date arranged by Dani. Jarred, not having been to many of her recent performances, turns up to hear Dani give a heart to heart to the audience about him. 

At the core of this there’s a really nice idea which is to investigate how somebody is the author of their own destruction, how people deal with a debilitating condition and the struggles of working as a creative person in a big city.

It loses much of that because it verges upon self-indulgence

The poster suggests that it is a subway play, but we don’t get enough of the awkwardness and the travel on the subway to make it that. Much of the revelations and the action happen either at the club managed by Tasha and has Dani performing or in the flat. It would perhaps be better to split the action so that we get more on the subway. Mirroring the decisions and indecisions of life travelling in a claustrophobic space makes more sense. The acting was convincing but needed more rehearsal. Sometimes the characterisation was not being followed through, and some fairly big emotions were underplayed. 

We’ve Got Time is on the cusp of working and, with a little bit more reflection and redrafting, it could become something that takes off. There are hints of this promise beginning to appear, but the material needs to be redefined in a much stronger fashion. 

We’ve Got Time, Greenside at Riddles Court until 30th August