[O’BTVIII IDM-BPM theatre comedy dance music books
THEATRE PREVIEW Somebody To Love
Freddie Mercury may be gone but his music lives on through a legion of fans, film soundtracks, and now a play visiting this year’s Fringe. ’Queen’s music is perfect for this play,’ says writer and performer Dominic Burdess, ‘because it’s sort of silly and sentimental, but also vast with epic themes.’
As graduates of L'Ecole International de Theatre Jacques Lecoq, the company specialises in mask and mime. The versatility of using masks helps the production span an epic six decades in the lives of three characters who form the corners of a love triangle. Told in flashback, the play's heroine Susan ‘wants to break free' while husband Len ponders 'who wants to live forever?’ By mixing comedy and tragedy, Burdess
aims to move his audience but keep them laughing. He admits (somewhat reluctantly) to being a Queen fan (’it was the first album I ever bought'), and having wowed 900 members of the International Queen Fan Club at their annual convention, it seems
THEATRE PREVIEW Stand-Up: A Play About Comedy
South London funnymen prove comedy’s no laughing matter
Roy Marsden, TV detective and director of Roy Smiles’ play Stand-Up, hasn't been to Edinburgh for 25 years. Returning to the capital following a stint at the Traverse in the 705, Marsden is looking forward to ’three weeks of self-abuse'.
Set in a seedy South London comedy club, Stand-Up tells the story of a double act who part company and gradually move in different directions: one up, one down. 'A rather hurtful, domestic tragedy that’s awfully funny’ is how Marsden chooses to describe it.
Remarkably laid back for a thespian Marsden sees the festival as ’the great washing up bowl of the business’ when actors get
together and exchange ideas. But what about after the festival, detective? ’I’ve got another four or five plays to direct, then a series to do, then there's a huge festival of drama next year and after that I’ll be in the Sunshine Resthome.’ (Paul Dale)
I Stand-Up: A Play About Comedy (Fringe) Green & Lenagan, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 20 Aug (not 7) 2.20pm; 2 7-28 Aug 72.30pm, £8. 50/£9 (£7. 50/£8).
..,r,.' ‘1 r‘ rip", ,~ ‘, t, ' ,4“ ‘ 9.)”: f; . tux,
Roy Marsden swaps detecting for directing with Stand-Up: A Play About Comedy
. j *1 i i .3 Blow Up Theatre in a Bohemian Rhapsody that's A Kind Of Magic Somebody To Love comes with an official seal of approval. (Louisa Pearson) I Somebody To Love (Fringe) Blow Up Theatre, Pleasance Two (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 8, 22) 7.40pm, £7/£8 (£6/£7).
THEATRE PREVIEW
Majo
Small time gangsters get big ideas in 19505 50 o
Chris Chilton never saw the original London run of Mojo. So having directed this new version of the Jez Butterworth rock 'n' roll hit, he checked out the video, and was amazed by the difference between the two productions. ’Ours is radically different,’ says Chilton. ’It’s less showy, and we try to make all the relationships work rather than just having a collection of flashy dialogue.’ Set in the seedy underworld of Soho in the 19505, the company enlisted the help of one Mad Frankie Fraser, lifelong London hardman and jailbird, to set the scene. 'We had to take him out for dinner to woo him into helping us. He told us some stories that I can’t go into, but we were quite blown away.’ Apparently Mr Fraser still shows a keen interest in the play, and is planning to come up to see it in Edinburgh. You have been warned. (Doug Johnstone) I Mojo (Fringe) The Really Youthful Theatre Company, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, 4—28 Aug, 7.30pm, £70/£77 (£9/£70).
THEATE PREVIEW
Papa Was A Bus Conductor The bright lights of Bollywood beckon . . .
When Parv Bancil's original production of Papa Was A Bus Conductor first did the rounds five years ago, it met with a few bemused looks. Asian audiences weren't used to laughing at themselves, and it took the arrival of
film and TV hits such as East Is East and Goodness Gracious Me to make them more at ease with self- deprecation. Unfortunately it was also the advent of that same TV show that forced Bancil to undertake a huge re- write, after the cast shamelessly plundered his characters to create suburban wannabes, the Coopers. Today, the play is an amalgam of the original production and Bancil’s other creation Bol/ywood Or Bust. A tale of thwarted ambition, Papa follows the exploits of a disillusioned Asian actor who tries to get the script of his life committed to celluloid. An unscrupulous agent and a drug- dealing wife further hinder his cause. ’We've tried to place the characters in stereotypical settings but then subvert them and give them a new take,’ explains Bancil. But despite the subject matter, in-jokes are definitely a no-go area for Bancil. ’Although the material is about Asians, we don't rely on recognition to get laughs, we just write what we think is funny — and we use Asian characters because they're not represented, that’s all.’ (Kelly Apter) I Papa Was A Bus Conductor (Fringe) Watermans Arts Centre, Gilded Balloon At Tailors Hall (Venue 36) 226 2757, 4—28 Aug, 2pm, £7 (£6).
THEATRE PREVIEW
All Words For Sex
Sexual healing on the psychiatrists couch
Taking an intimate and controversial approach, Jules Leyser’s new play introduces four women in therapy whose experiences tread the fine line between wanted and unwanted sex. Paula uses sex as currency for transactions; Imogen is in denial that she's a victim; Beth’s body was violated and Marion just wants to serve her husband.
Written and performed by Leyser, the production marks a return to acting for the National Youth Theatre performer after a seven year stint in advertising. It was there that she gathered material for her characters and after being ’amazed at how many people undergo therapy', decided on structuring the drama around four separate therapy sessions.
The one-woman show, directed by Guy Masterson, introduces attitudes that are often moving and frequently amusing, but rarely discussed in open conversation. By bringing sensitive issues to the fore, Leyser says, 'People will hopefully be stimulated into discussing women and their attitudes to sex.’ (Catherine Bromley)
I All Words For Sex (Fringe) Guy Masterson Productions, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, 4—28 Aug (not 75) 7. 75pm, £9.50 (£7.50).
DANCE PREVIEW
Swing Changes
Dynamic Earth serves you up a large Singapore Swing
’It’s amazing how this 74-year-old dance can look so "now”,’ says Jaki Fisher of the Lindy Hop Ensemble
38 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 3—1 0 Aug 2000