“I wish I could tell a nice, simple story”, says Danni, Dee Burke’s persona in Black Wednesday. It’s true – this story is not a straightforward one. We’re warned at its outset: “this isn’t going to come out easy. It’s going to come out in fragments.” And indeed it does, covering the turbulent span of this young woman’s life. Gavin Kostick’s writing flows easily between humour and seriousness, balanced between the colloquial and the expressive. Moments are captured vividly in lovely language, and Wojciech Hupert’s sound design is an aural tapestry behind Burke’s performance, providing a subtle, invisible backdrop.

Yet the transitions between past and present, between different characters and events are almost non-existent, with little done to pace the arc of the story. Two white cubes make up both set and props, and Burke spends much of the play moving them, stacking them and jumping over them. While clearly devised for versatility, this is rarely truly exploited; Burke seems to be constantly seeking to own the space and her own physicality.

This is a strong script, performed by a strong actor – yet there is more that could be done here to set it apart from the other one-person plays that abound the Fringe.

Star rating: ★★★