Review: Go Spy on ‘Edgar & Annabel’ Before They Escape

Edgar and Annabel, Pony World Theatre, At 12^th Avenue Arts, Through November 30, 2024

How dark can a play about spies, politics, and karaoke get? Pretty dang dark at times in this engrossing spy play. You know that it’s a spy play because, besides Pony World Theatre saying so, if you come a half hour early you can get some spy training!

Pony World has long been a company whose work I know I want to see, in advance. They have a solid theatrical aesthetic and choose shows well. Here, they’ve chosen a play written in 2011 that feels like it could be written (God forbid) about 2025!! 

We immediately know that Edgar and Annabel are spies. No spoiler, here. The two people who seem to live in the house with the kitchen they are standing in (a one-set moment that works very simply, as Robin Macartney often designs) also don’t seem to know each other. And they suddenly start reading from a script with an eye on a microphone above them.

Turns out that “Edgar” is a replacement and “Annabel” is unhappily startled. When they don’t get along very well and have to have a “talk” about it with the spy boss, we understand that they are resistance fighters to a government that disappears opposition figures, and also that they are not just resisting with words…. Pretty scary stuff.

But you can’t live a scared life all the time, sometimes you have to have fun, and have other … people come over and enjoy yourselves, right?

There are a number of conceits embroidered into this fabric. Firstly, I can tell you who I saw on stage tonight, but not of casting for any other of the few performances left. Director Charlotte Peters ably directs a team of actors who substitute in various roles for these performances. So, tonight’s sturdy ensemble of Daniel Christensen (a well-done spy boss who conveys a strong sense of mission and sometimes annoyance), Zenaida Smith (a strong “Annabel” with a bite), Dylan Smith (a lovely performance as “Edgar” with both reasonable resentment and silliness), and Maddy Nibble, Vincent Milay, Van Lan Pham, and Monica Domena, may not be who you see. 

Secondly, if you wish to attend spy training, it’s a lot of fun, and an extra dimension that definitely helps put you in the mood. It’s a very “mild” audience interaction, especially for those who generally get creeped out by that idea.

This is a well-written play by Sam Holcroft, once you get used to the awkward reading of daily scripts. Since our country had not yet experienced the tumult of the last 10 years, she was writing about other countries like Russia and North Korea. Unfortunately, we now may experience such wild governmental subjugation, so it’s very prescient programming on Pony World’s part.

If everything political is triggering right now, it might not be the moment for you. But the treatment is fairly “light” for a dark comedy, and I strongly encourage everyone to get out to see this show if your mental health doesn’t interfere!

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