FAST
06 November 2024
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
FAST, running at Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 17 November, tackles the story of Linda Hazzard, wonder healer of the early 1900s who promised a cure for every ailment through fasting. Isolating her patients and watching them waste away, the public is slow to catch on to the darker side of her supposed therapy, but when they do, it becomes a media spectacle.
With just five actors, and a very sparse set in the black box theatre, FAST manages to immerse its audience fully, transporting them back to the past in rural America to witness the madness that sucked people in with the promise of healing and recuperation. A couple of hospital beds, a small desk, a widow floating in mid-air, a rusty bathtub, that’s all that is needed to build a strange world in which those seeking refuge and help become victims of a megalomaniac. Costuming is superb for this little show, period accurate clothes that really evoke the early century stylings, rounding out the visual appeal for this production.
Dr. Linda and her husband work hard to try to convince the scientific community that their cure of strict fasting, sometimes for months on end, is the only thing that can rid the body of toxins and really cure long-standing diseases. Journalist Horace Cayton smells a big story and tries to gain access to the sanitarium to find out what is really going on after several deaths of patients had been reported, but struggles getting close to the self-appointed wonder healer. At the same time, british sisters Claire and Dora undergo treatment for their various mysterious ailments. Things ramp up when the treatment has severe repercussions while Horace fights to be admitted to the facility.
Interspersed with direct-to-audience presentations by Dr. Hazzard, FAST is beautifully paced, not racing through the action but also never lingering for too long. The strongly developed characters contribute to solid story telling, drawing up a rich world for viewers. Whether audiences have heard of the story of Linda Hazzard or not, FAST is a gorgeous production bringing to life a medical scandal from the previous century, honoring the victims as much as exposing the perpetrators. A fantastic little show for anyone who likes a good thriller based on a true story.
