Wartime England, bombs falling on London, swing music on the radio. Sarah, a young girl from the East End, has a love affair with Joe, an American soldier. The odds are against them ever marrying, not only because he's black but because Sarah has a secret in her past -- an illegitimate child.
Natalie Wilcox, who plays Sarah, is also the author of Lie Back and Think of America. She doesn't seemed to have worked with a director. The absence of a third eye, an objective opinion, is all too evident. Instead of staying focused on the inter-racial love affair and the challenge of playing both roles, Wilcox brings in a dozen-odd other characters: her child, her parents, her brother, various aunts, uncles and neighbors. She also spends time -- too much time -- telling their stories, imitating their voices. Consequently, the thrust and power of the main love story is vitiated, dissipated.
'Tis a pity, because Wilcox does a valiant job of trying to make her solo show work. But despite all her hard work, Lie Back goes all over the place, instead of driving with mounting intensity and urgency to a satisfying and dramatic conclusion.
Let's hope Wilcox treats this Fringe production as a workshop and will bring in an experienced theater hand to help cut and restructure this potentially worthy play.
