Killing time

It’s an hour until Armageddon and two teenage boys sit on a hillside and discuss their penises. So begins what must be one of the Fringe’s most powerful student productions – written, directed and performed by the Edinburgh University Theatre Company.

Killing Time could almost belong to the canon of First World War literature in its themes of intimacy between young men and of predictable, premature death. Andrew Edward’s script contains a great deal of humour – heart-breaking humour, especially in its vivid portrayal of the absurdities of teenage boys, even in the face of death. Actors Callum O’Dwyer and Joe McArdle do full justice to the excellence of the writing and realise these absurdities superbly. Mention should also go to Amy Plender, the remaining member of the cast, who is convincingly vulnerable in the role of a lost and lonely young girl.

Short-form dramas often struggle to make their content fit time constraints and can end up feeling either overly drawn out or overly busy. Neither is the case for the real-time drama of Killing Time. Equally, the fact that the number of minutes left until the end of the play are the same as those until the end of the boys’ lives creates stifling levels of tension. To paraphrase Dr Johnson, knowing the characters on stage are about to die concentrates the mind (and the emotions) most wonderfully.