It naturally follows that the cosmetics industry took a dive during the global pandemic – why would people need to put makeup and perfume on if they weren’t going anywhere? Otherwise, it’s big business. As far as I can recall, every department store I’ve been in has some kind of skincare and beauty section. In this show, television personality Kristen Lee (Martyna Wróbel) is fired from her job as a daytime show host. It’s not explicitly set out why, which provides a (somewhat overly convenient) springboard for a range of thoughts to swirl around in her own mind as to what is going on. Asked not to come in the next day, she is grateful for the day off – but the request extends to being asked never to come in ever again. Forget appeals and employment tribunals: the characters largely speak in American accents, but wherever the show is set, it’s somewhere with employment legislation weighted very heavily in favour of the employer.
It is perhaps worth pointing out that while ‘employment at will’ is popular in the United States, which is essentially an arrangement where an employer can fire an employee at any time and without warning, anti-discrimination legislation can and does override this. That is, if Kristen were fired on the basis of her age or any other personal characteristic, that would have been illegal. Legality, as the show progresses, is neither here nor there, until it is thrown out of the window completely, albeit by Kristen herself, who thought she was being entrepreneurial (and arguably, she was) but there are consequences, perhaps unintended, of increasing supply to meet increasing demand.
There are some astute observations made in the dialogue, which manages to avoid being too didactic, such as the general lack of concern about animal testing in the cosmetic industry, something that still exists, and the fixation that some people have with trying to continue to look young and beautiful. The show’s title comes from a spa of the same name run by Angelica (Lucy McClure), which provides personalised wellbeing treatments. If you need to ask, ‘how much?’, you can’t afford to be a client there, and Kristen finds herself taking desperate measures in desperate times – more than once.
Several characters played by David Joseph Healy have names, but as the programme only goes by ‘Man’, I shall keep faith with it, suffice to say he does well to keep each of his various characters distinct. This isn’t a show that will do much to encourage people, particularly women, to pursue a career in the entertainment industry – quite the opposite. The assertion is that the number of roles made available diminishes or perhaps even vanishes completely as actors and actresses get older. The music is often briskly paced, providing an increasingly evident contrast with the progressively dark storyline. An engaging experience.
Review by Chris Omaweng
When a 30-something actress is suddenly aged out of the industry, she undergoes a wildly unconventional spa treatment to get her old life back. But it sets her on a whole new path to pursue true power and equality… at a cost. Fountain of You is a dark comedy that takes on our societal preoccupation with youth and beauty, and the system underlying it all, with a pop-infused score and ample gore.
CAST
Kristen – Martyna Wróbel
Angelica – Lucy McClure
Man – David Joseph Healy
Esthettes – Selina Savijoki, Jadone Simone Trelor, Kaiyi Xu, Beatrice Jiaxin Zheng
CREATIVES
Director – Tania Azevedo
Musical Directors – Miguel Esteban, Luke Sprague
Choreographer – Jane McMurtrie
Set and Costume Designer – Claire Halleran
Lighting Designer – Simon Hayes
Sound Designer – Corey Jackson
Musical Supervisor – David Higham
Vocal Coach – Gordon Adams
Spoken Voice Support – Susan Worsfold
Dialect Coach – Hilary Jones
Fight Director – Raymond Short
Assistant Director – Lucy McClure
Assistant Vocal Coach – Marty Pascall
Dance Captain – Jadon Simone Trelour
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland presents
FOUNTAIN OF YOU
Assembly Rooms at the Edinburgh Fringe
3 to 24 August 2024
Shows and events booking now for Edinburgh Playhouse and for King’s Theatre Glasgow.
