THEATRE PREVIEW
Say Nothing
Derry duo face up to surrealism
David Woods and John Hough are Ridiculusmus, the moniker is Latin, meaning 'ridiculous mouse'. Extant for eight years, based in Derry for six, Say Nothing is their surreal, comic, paranoid, tragic, unsettling, provocative and challenging conundrum of a play about Northern Ireland.
It's not concerned about the paramilitaries as such, but rather the foibles and conceits of the Northern Irish middle classes. In particular it focuses on the entrenched apathy found among the petit-bourgeoise. David Woods sums up the attitude, ‘Northern Ireland is a great wee place, nothing bad ever happens here.’
The play's title derives from a number of sources: a Northern Irish phrase, ‘Whatever you say, say nothing’; a Seamus Heaney poem; and a Colin Sands song about Northern Irish reticence. There is also a phrase in Derry which goes, 'Say nothing until you see Clod', whom of course you never see.
What you do get to see in the theatre is the bizarre sight of two men atop a modest turf-filled suitcase. 'lt's symbolic of this
"narrow ground", as Walter Scott called it,’ says Woods. 'lt's a symbol of entrenchment; they're stuck in this tiny, claustrophobic situation, yet they never touch.’
For an outsider, attempting to unravel the complexities of the Northern Ireland issue is a bit like being Theseus, cast into the maze of the Minotaur, but without the ball of string. Say Nothing had a similarly disorientating effect when it had its debut in Belfast. The audience could not figure out from which side of
theatre comedy dance music books
(Ross Holloway)
the divide they were approaching the subject matter.
K
No sleeping on the job for Metallica Meets The Nerds
DANCE PREVIEW
Metallica Meets The Nerds/Unadulterated Dance
Mo of the hottest dance triple bills
Last year some of the best moves — not just on the Fringe, but in all of Edinburgh during Festival—time — were presented under the auspices of Dance Base. That's Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, in case you didn’t know (Prince Chuck is the patron, hence publicity of him earlier this year looking like a happily embarrassed beetroot tripping the light fantastic at an official knees-up).
Claiming space at Dynamic Earth, Dance Base is offering some cleverly titled mixed-bills beginning with Metallica Meets the Nerds. The Metallica part derives from Edinburgh- based dancer-choreographer Rosie Kay’s use of that mUSIC, as interpreted by the four cellists of Apocalyptica, in
Ridiculusmus trips the turf fantastic
No doubt, this is the point of Say Nothing, and this is also the key to why the piece works. It has wide appeal and is provocative in its unswerving tragi-comic portrayal of human frailties. It touches the heart as well as the head. As Ridiculusmus say of it themselves: ‘Say Nothing is an entertaining slice of horrible reality. The reality is hilarious as well as disturbing.’
I For details, see Hit/ist, right.
her solo ’Say It Qwetly'. Kay's a fine mover with a dramatic streak; one or her inspirational sources here IS the work of painter Francis Bacon. The nerds are Liverpool’s Air Dance Company as seen in P6. This droll, knowing piece of dance-theatre has something to do with God, ping-pong and motion. Milly C, the youthful cream of graduate dancers from the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance, rounds off the programme. Unadulterated Dance pairs the pure dance craft of Steinvor Palsson Dancers with visiting soloist Michelle Man. The latter, British-born and trained, has been living in Madrid for the past decade. Man's first-ever solo ’Mi placer’ is being sold as 'intense and erotic'. Her reaction? 'ls it because I wear my grandmother's knickers in the show?’ she laughs. ’What I do is sen-su-al. But maybe I should buy myself tit tassels.’ loking aside, expect a superb performance from this woman. (Donald Hutera) I For details, see Hit/ist, right.
l-Iitlifl *
Get the hell up! The Festival starts here!
Say Nothing
See preview left. Say Nothing (Fringe) Ridicu/usmus, Traverse (Venue 75) 228 7404, 4—26 Aug (not Mon) various times, £9 (£6). Preview3 Aug, 7. 75pm, £6 (£4).
Metallica Meets The Nerds/ Unadulterated Dance
See preview left. Metallica Meets The Nerds (Fringe) Scottish International At Dynamic Earth (Venue 78) 5303557, until 6 Aug, 77.30am, £7 (£5). Unadulterated Dance (Fringe) Scottish International At Dynamic Earth (Venue 78) 530 3557, 8—73 Aug, 77.30am, £7 (£5).
Picasso's Women Susannah York, Toya Willcox, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Amanda Harris star in four individual one- woman plays as Picasso’s four maligned lovers: respectively Jacqueline Roque, Dora Marr, Olga Kokhlova and Francoise Gilot. See preview on following pages. Picasso’s Women (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428; Jacqueline, 4—72, 74, 76, 78 Aug, noon, 75, 22 Aug, 70.30am; Francoise, 5—28 Aug (not 73, 27, 23) noon; Olga, 3—73, 75—20, 22—28 Aug,
7. 70pm," Dora, 7 3, 7 7, 79-28 Aug, noon, 74 Aug, 7. 70pm, 75, 22 Aug, 2.30pm, £9/£ 70 (£8/£9).
Messiah—
Fringemeister Steven Berkoff writes, directs (but doesn’t perform) a suitably searing and radical retelling of Jesus’ life and death. Expect the unexpected. Messiah (Fringe) Steven Berkoff, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, 8—28 Aug (not 74, 27), 77.30am, £70/£77 (£9/£70). Poet In New York Award-Winning, dance-clown- theatre-collective Pig lron presents a promismg new dance- theatre work about the love life of the young Lorca who became besotted with Dali. Expect a riveting performance from Dito van Reigersberg. Poet In New York (Fringe) Pig Iron, C (Venue 34) 225 5705, until 27 Aug (not 77—20) 72.35pm, £5.50 (£6.50).
3—1 0 Aug 2000 THE lIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 29