Making the Move at Edinburgh Fringe 2014

Archive: Edinburgh247’s original coverage of Making the Move, a short comedy staged at Just the Tonic during the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Making the Move was one of the shortest shows at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe. Written by 17-year-old playwright Noah Altshuler, the 20-minute play followed the teenage nerves, awkwardness, and humour surrounding a first kiss.

Staged at Just the Tonic, the production featured four actors, three conversations, and a single couch. Its short running time made it an unusually easy Fringe show to fit between other performances.

Edinburgh247 Archive: This page restores our original 2014 coverage of Making the Move, along with reader reviews submitted during that year’s Fringe.

About Making the Move

The play focuses on Todd and Hannah and the uncertainty surrounding a date and an anticipated first kiss.

The action is deliberately simple. Four performers sit around a sofa while the dialogue moves between conversations before, during, and after the date.

The original Edinburgh247 listing praised the show’s quick pace and comedy, describing it as the sort of small-scale Fringe production that could easily be caught during a lunch break.

At the time, tickets were listed at just £2, with at least one performance also reported as free by an Edinburgh247 reader.

Reader Reviews From the 2014 Fringe

Nicole, 8 August 2014

4/5

Making the Move is one of those fun little fringe plays that you find off the mainstream. With the big boys running commercial shows, how much nicer it is to find material like this which is much more what the Edinburgh Fringe was initially about, the chance to try experimental material on an audience.

This play is very short at only 20 minutes which is quite surprising, but you know that when you book it and at only £2 (though the day we went it was free), it is good value and a bit of fun. It slots nicely between a couple of other shows and as it is at Just the Tonic on the Cowgate is right in the middle of that busy area.

The stage is bare apart from a sofa on which four people sit and engage in some dialogue about a date. It is cleverer than it sounds as the dialogues take place before, during and after the date. How will Todd kiss Hannah? Will she have to ask him to kiss her? What will they talk about?

It is actually really funny and clever. The final scene got a big “ah” and some whoops from the audience, so clearly they enjoyed it.

The writer has created the play from his own experiences and I was surprised to discover that he is only 17. Clearly he will go far if this is his first attempt and it is impressive he has managed to bring this play to the Fringe.

Nigel Boardman, 10 August 2014

5/5

I stumbled onto this little gem completely by chance. I had heard that the venue, The Caves, currently occupied by Just the Tonic, was a must-see.

I was incredibly impressed by Making the Move, apparently a first outing by a young playwright called Noah Altshuler. It was only 20 mins and I wish it had been twice that length.

The dialogue was hilarious and completely believable. The set-up, while hardly original, somehow seemed like a completely fresh take. I was totally captivated from start to finish.

I hope there is a chapter two next year. I have to know what happens to Todd and Hannah. Well done and well worth two quid.

Edinburgh247 Archive

This listing originally appeared on Edinburgh247 during the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has been restored from our archived site.

The production and ticket information above relates to August 2014 and should not be treated as a current event listing.