Mycorrhiza is a symbiotic relationship between fungi and plant roots. More than 80% of the species of higher plants have these relationships, which are mutually beneficial.
Dean and Alicia are stranded on a remote Scottish island. They used to be friends, but they have not been in touch for the last six years. They start digging up the past, uncovering past traumas.
Mycorrhiza, directed by Sepy Baghaei, is the debut play for Luke Stapleton. It is a play about friendship, and being able to talk with someone when you need to. And it is true: friendships are symbiotic, interdependent and priceless relationships.
Unfortunately, the play lacks plot, which could be compensated by our interest in these characters, but the most interesting pieces of information about them -why they are stuck on this metaphorical, (abstract?) island- come too late in the show, too close to the end, when we are tired - we have been mainly listening for more than one hour, with little visual or musical diversions to rest our attention.
I guess the main point of the play is the importance of friendships, but this message doesn't quite manage to break through the surface. There are some touching and humorous moments between the two characters (a very good performance by Scott Afton and Corrina Buchan) and a couple of powerful speeches delivered well, but in the end, it is not clear if this is a play about recovering from personal traumas, about love, or about philosophical human isolation. It might be about all of them and probably more, but we are left guessing.
It runs until 18 May
For the link to the Kickstarter for the Foreword Festival, click here