THE HALF Guy Masterson's Centre for International Theatre (CIT) Higher Ground East Until 18 Mar 2012 Review by Jamie Wright Backstage in a dressing room, prior to the performance, The Actor (Guy Masterson) readies himself. While the minutes tick away, curtain-up creeps closer. But as he checks his costume and props, performs his ablutions, warm-ups and rituals, doubt starts to set in. Has he made the right choices, in either/both his artistic and personal lives? Award-winning actor and director Guy Masterson is now a Fringe fixture, and has performed several one-man shows over the past few years, including “American Poodle”, “Under Milk Wood”, “Animal Farm” and “Shylock”, as well as two-handers such as “The Sociable Plover” and “Oleanna”; this show is another demonstrates his impressive capacity for energetic, engaging performances. Richard Dormer’s script is well-structured and full of clever wordplay, theatrical in-jokes and a very honest analysis of the pressures of performance; it also includes numerous sections from “Hamlet”, which Masterson gives an expert treatment to. It’s laugh-out-loud funny in parts and moving in others, as The Actor reveals the price he has paid for the life he leads. Under David Calvitto’s direction, Masterson builds the tension well and the humorous aspects slot in nicely – though on more than one occasion it seems like the building of emotional peaks (which ebb and flow throughout) happens too early on, with nowhere to go when the script calls for a step up to the next level. The simple set is a dressing room set up with the audience placed behind the (non-existent) mirror, to which The Actor speaks, with a doorway (complete with loudspeaker, through which announcements and the sound of the audience entering the theatre can be heard) at the rear. There’s some clever lighting for one particular scene, though little else throughout when it could be used more. Overall, there’s just a slight work-in-progress feel to this production. The script is excellent and there’s exceptional talent both on the stage and in the director’s chair; it just needs a little bit of tweaking to achieve true greatness. That said, in its current state it’s still a laugh-out-loud funny, entertaining and touching play, particularly for anyone who’s spent time in a dressing room waiting for the call of ‘beginners’. Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)