Edinburgh 2022: Review: SVENGALI, Pleasance Courtyard

Swaggering onto the stage with hands in suit pocket, Chloe-Ann Tylor commands the stage from the second she sets foot on it. An arrogant masculine character emerges and sets the pace for the rest of the play.

It's difficult to see how this kind of energy can be sustained for the hour-long performance but Tylor is a marvel. The character is a tennis coach who scopes out potential in a young girl named Trillby and then becomes obsessed with making her the world's greatest tennis star.

The performance flies by as Tylor has the audience completely captivated. With Eve Nicol's gripping script, Svengali looks at the power dynamic between the person who actually has the talent and the person who is at the top of their game because they "get paid the most to do the least".

It's a very physical role as Tylor takes on the mannerisms of this confident, manipulative coach. It makes it perhaps all the more jarring when she thanks the audience for coming at the end, slipping out of a character that is quite frankly, terrifying.

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