Graham Dickson: Timber

• Brian Donaldson
• 19 August 2018

A very broad character-led exploration into a ravaged Hollywood

In Austentatious member Graham Dickson's new one-man (mainly) character show, we are dropped into a near-future world where Hollywood has finally caved in on itself. As the sex-abuse scandals piled up on one another at a rapid rate, women decided to completely abandon Tinseltown, leaving the men behind to pick up the pieces of a broken culture. With a dysfunctional industry on its knees, one documentary-maker decides that she'll return to the scene of so many crimes to seek out the truth about a mysterious character called The Bear.

While the narrative becomes more cumbersome as Timber proceeds, the main enjoyment comes from Dickson's portrayal of a selection of characters (a super-agent called Sammy Slim and veteran cinematographer Mo Shapiro among them). Also, his Netflix-style opening is an amusing device particularly when he hands the remote to a front-row resident who has the option of playing the movie or watching the trailer again.

The overall effect brings to mind the multi-character work of Tom Neenan and Dickson's Austentatious comrade Joseph Morpurgo, but Timber lacks the jokes of the former and the ingenuity of the latter. It is, however, a solid example of Graham Dickson's ability as an actor, improviser and creator of very broad individuals.

Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug, 5.30pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50).