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Learn more- Fugue is about the fragility of the human mind. It centres on the life of Andy, an average 20 something whose world is shattered by the loss of his memory. He has to rebuild everything from scratch, aided by those closest to him. Fugue throws light on peoples retelling of stories and about how they cast their own impression of each tale, how memories are digested and retold, and ultimately how much can you trust those closest to you. Andy has to decide who to believe and who could be trying to manipulate him. To this end he has a growing mistrust of those around him, their ability to retell the past accurately, and whether they are trying to shape him, whether purposefully or not for their own ends.
For example his mother, Janet, lonely since the death of her husband and Andys father, sees this as an opportunity to regain her son. His ex-girlfriend, Laura, with whom he has a young son, sees this as an opportunity to get the boyfriend she always wanted, but the old Andy could never seem to provide. Hence their break-up. And his two best friends Barra and Geoff. Barra is desperate to bring back the old Andy, the irresponsible, in his eyes fun-loving, ladies man. And finally Geoff, a man with a scientific brain, who sees the new Andy as an exciting case study, and perhaps a man he can now nurture to perhaps think like him, as their friendship had waned due to the fact they appeared to have little in common.
But what we question, and what Andy questions, is who is telling the truth about the old Andy? Andy has a growing sense of paranoia and confusion, as he tries to wrestle with the stories about his past. Does he want to become the old Andy? Will it inevitably happen? Will his memory return? And most importantly how did this happen? All of this at the same time as starting a new life. Andy increasingly becomes detached from those around him and seeks solace in London, a city he feels he can hide in. He wanders around, taking in the sights and sounds, reveling in his sense of isolation in this bustling metropolis. He moves from trying to seek answers as to what caused his memory loss and trying to regain his memory to discovering himself and finding the moment that his new journey can start. The realization slowly dawns on him that this is an opportunity to go with his instincts, as these are all he has.
As he grows more accustomed to his new self, his nearest and dearest attempt to make him see into his future, and try to force his hand in a certain direction. Laura needs a father for their son, Barra wants a best friend and Janet wants to not be alone. Geoff is the only voice of apparent calm.
All the way through Andy returns to a psychiatrist (who we never see), who is a sounding board to Andys frustrations, his attempts to understand his plight and his growing paranoia and confusion.
Fugue is a patchwork of pre-Fugue and post-Fugue vignettes with each character, juxtaposing Andys past and present personalities leaving us with a growing sense of unease with each character. These scenes are sometimes touching, sometimes dramatic, sometimes funny, but always real. All of these characters have real flaws, each struggling to cope with the pressure of what has happened to Andy, characters that start out as likeable and fade with the foibles of real human beings in an extraordinary event.
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