“IRIVCI OdM-ZPM theatre comedy dance music books
Geraldine Fitzgerald as one of Picasso's ’screwed-up’ women
THEATRE PREVIEW Picasso's Women
The four monologues of Picasso’s Women by Brian McAvera - Dora, Olga, Francoise and Jacqueline - form an alternate view of the artist's life, with his wives and mistresses taking centre stage to reveal the man behind the
art.
Geraldine Fitzgerald takes the role of Olga Kokhlova, who bore Picasso's only legitimate child, but was nonetheless unceremoniously dumped. ’It’s quite a fun monologue,’ says Fitzgerald, ‘because it travels in a circle, she starts off in high dudgeon describing her nightmare life - all the characters are dead, so they’re speaking to the audience from a kind of limbo - and then she describes with glee the way she behaved to get back at him, a bit like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. Her pain is real, but there are laughs in it. i think there'll be a lot of sympathy for her. She’s quite a sad figure, really; quite haughty and Russian with a strong sense
of her own self.’
The plays are also intended to reclaim the role of Picasso's partners from history, which, naturally enough, has focused on the artist himself. 'All the history has been Picasso this and Picasso that,’ says Fitzgerald, ’and the women have always been dismissed in one sentence. The plays are more about the effect he had on the women's lives; he screwed up so many women. The plays are free-standing, but It should be interesting for people to see them in succession, as a series from different viewpoints.’
(Jack Mottram)
I Picasso ’5 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, 73, 77, 79-28 Aug, noon, 74 Aug, 7. 70pm, 75, 22 Aug, 2.30pm, £9/£ 7 0 (£8/f9).
THEATRE PREVIEW
Learning To Love The Grey Scientists are people too
Following the success of last year’s Sweet As You Are - Y Touring's play about GM foods — Jonathan Hail and Company return to Edinburgh with Learning To Love The Grey, a show based on cloning. A love story involving an actress, a playwright and
two scientists, the play aims to educate as well as entertain, with a live debate following each performance. ’It was written as a way of educating young people about scientific issues,’ explains Hall. ’It’s quite an adult play, but l’m hopeful kids will get it too.’
’What's the fucking point of Arts and Science coming together if all scientists
are like you!’ screeches a character in the play. But, Hall, having worked in both fields, reckons that people inhabiting these worlds aren't as different as you might think. ’Scientists and theatre people have a great deal in common,’ he says. ’They are both utterly incapable of giving you a concise answer about anything. Plus they both have incredibly messy desks.’
(Doug Johnstone)
l Learning To Love The Grey (Fringe) Y Touring, Pleasance (Venue 3) 556 6550, 6-28 Aug (not 8, 75, 27—22) noon, £6.50/f 7.50 (£5.50/f650).
POETRY PREVIEW Bob Goody's Bite Of The Dog
Morbid poetry
meets stand- up rambles
If you want someone to back your \ Fringe show, you
can't do better
than Harry
Enfield. ’His poems are brilliant,’ raves Enfield about Bob Goody, ’and his rambles {7 in between are like being in the Peak District National Park: you're lost, you don’t know where you're going but you're ridiculously happy.’
A long-term collaborator with Mel Smith, Goody’s been around for over three decades and he draws ’ on his extensive / comic career for much of his poetry. ’I write a lot about the business I'm in,’ he says, ’so I cover I unemployment, huge stress and heavy drinking! It's often dark, but the humour's definitely in there. There’s also stuff about life and death, and there's a losing the grip, going bonkers thing.’
Punctuated with improvised observational humour, Goody’s confident that these strolls through the darker recesses of his life will all come together. 'I don’t work it out,’ he says, ’I have the shape, but I just see what happens.’ (Davie Archibald) I Bob Goody’s Bite Of The Dog (Fringe) Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, 4—28 Aug (not 8, 78, 22) 72.25pm, £6.50/£7.50 (f5.50/£6.50). Preview 3 Aug, £3.
THEATRE PREVIEW Shakespeare For Breakfast Bite-sized Bard with your croissant If you want to feel superior to Carol Vorderman (and let’s face it — who doesn't?) then seek out some Shakespeare during the Festival. Forget big screen adaptations, Leonardo di Caprio and the obligatory Kenneth Branagh, live Shakespeare’s
50 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 3—1 0 Aug 2000
what counts.
And of course, the lure of men in tights can be very hard to resist. There's plenty on offer this year: Romeo And Juliet, Pericles, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream to name but a few. And if you don’t feel quite up to a complete play, there are also several shows which comprise various scenes and characters all thrown together. One such production is the ever-popular Shakespeare For Breakfast, an early morning medley of the Bard's best bits. A veritable feast for both body and mind, the entertainment comes with free coffee and croissants, which is better than
cold porridge any day. (Kirsty Knaggs) l Shakespeare For Breakfast (Fringe)
C, C (Venue 34) 225 5705, 2—27 Aug, 70am, £5.50 (£4.50).
Bob Goody prepares to take a Bite Of The Dog