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THEATRE PREVIEW
Island
Comedy and tragedy meet on a traffic Island
The masks of Trestle Theatre Company are a familiar landmark of the Fringe. Yet, as anyone who has been fortunate enough to witness one of the fourteen bold yet personal Fringe productions that Trestle has performed since 1984 will tell you, the masks are only part of the vision created by Joff Chafer and Toby Wilsher, the company’s two joint Artistic Directors. Chafer trained with Phillipe Gaulier and Monika Pagneux, France’s top physical theatre innovators who have created a modern theatrical language influenced by commedia dell’arte, mime and Greek tragedy. Island, the tragically comic tale of an old woman lost on a traffic island, typifies Trestle's achievement of re-fashioning this grand European style in order to tell an idiosyncratically English tale of urban alienation, described by Chafer as ’a silent comedy about a true-life tragedy.’ (Tim Abrahams)
Island (Fringe) Trestle Theatre Company, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, 8, 70, 72, 74, 77, 79, 22, 24, 26, 28, 3pm, £7/£8 (£5/£6). Preview 5 Aug, £4.50.
Borderline poses some difficult questions in
The Reader
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THEATRE PREVIEW
Bus With The Bard! Shakespeare on the move
The Fringe will doubtlessly see countless productions of Shakespeare’s plays, but only one will be taking place on a purpose-built, double-decker theatre bus. Bus With The Bard, a collaboration between The English Shakespeare Company and The Buzz Bus, will give audiences the unique opportunity of seeing a performance whilst on the move. Abridged versions of Hamlet, Romeo And Juliet and Macbeth will be performed in 30 minutes while the purple wonder does a circuit starting from outside the Pleasance down Holyrood Road, via Abbeyhill, North Bridge and then back again.
Stacy Elder, The Buzz Bus’ Artistic Director says: 'Our bus is for children and adults, it is totally dedicated to theatre and fun. There are stage areas on both decks, surround sound and spotlights.’ She describes the ESC’s fusion of music dance and drama as ’Shakespeare with a twist’. A definite case of poetry in motion. (Dawn Kofie) u Bus With The Bard! (Fringe) English Shakespeare Company, Pleasance Bus (Venue 26) 556 6550, Aug 3—27, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, £3.50.
THEATRE PREVIEW The Reader Lost love in the shadow of war Next year sees the release of the film version of Bernhard Schlink's 1997 bestseller The Reader, directed by Anthony Minghella (The Talented Mr Ripley, The English Patient). In the meantime, Borderline Theatre have secured the exclusive theatre rights to the novel, and Will be premiering Chris Dolan’s adaptation at this year's Fringe. The story concerns fifteen- year-old Michael, and Hanna, the older woman he has a paSSIonate affair with in post-war Germany. After mysteriously disappearing for several years, Hanna re-enters Michael’s life under disturbing Circumstances. Now a law student, he observes the trial of five Nazi war criminals, one of which is his lost love, and he begins to send her tapes of himself reading until they can meet again. ’lt's one of those stories that casts up a thousand questions,' says Leslie
Paines Plough explore the dark side of female friendship
THEATRE PREVIEW Splendour
It's a sad but true fact, that human suffering makes for fascinating drama. But whereas the horrific ethnic cleansing witnessed during the holocaust has been well documented, Milosovic’s recent reign of terror has remained largely unexplored.
In her new political thriller Splendour, playwright Abi Morgan found the leader’s regime an interesting starting point. ‘I think people are bound to make associations with Kosovo, but it’s not directly based on events,’ explains Morgan. ’l was quite inspired by Milosovic and his wife and there are certain reference points, but primarily l was interested in writing a play about four women.’
The women in question are thrown together when the wife of a dictator is left in limbo following her husband’s sudden departure. But this is no touchy-feely exercise in female bonding. ‘Whenever you see a play with four women, inevitably they're getting pissed and talking about their boyfriends,’ says Morgan. ’But this is really about the violence that women quietly inflict on each other. The characters come through something and survive it, but they don’t necessarily survive as a unit; so there’s no group hug at the end.’ (Kelly Apter)
5,4 Splendour (Fringe) Paines Plough, Traverse (Venue 75) 228 7404, 3—26 Aug (not Mon) various times, £9 (£6). Preview 3 Aug, £6 (£4).
art form is nowhere better illustrated than in Break! Billed as an 'urban funk spectacular from New York City', Break! is the labour of love of a fourteen-strong crew led by director Peter ’Bam Bam' Arizemendi, who has gathered together some of New York’s finest poppers, lockers and B-boys for their Edinburgh debut.
Finlay, director of Borderline's production. ’Hopefully, if we’ve done it right, it Will throw up great debate.’ (Kirsty Knaggs)
_ : The Reader (Fringe) Borderline Theatre Company, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, 7—28 Aug (not 73, 20) 3.30pm, £9/£70 (£8/£9).
DANCE-PREVIEW H
Break! A combination of pure physical Floorfi/ling thrills from NYC dance strength and agility propels the team team through a show of breathtaking
movements to a bumping funk soundtrack. Their experience working with such acts as Puff Daddy, Run DMC and Janet Jackson mean these are no bunch of wrong- footed stumblers, they’re the best in their field. (Mark Robertson)
5;;- Break! (Fringe) Skaksfin & Company Dynamic Earth (Venue 78) 530 3557, until 73 Aug, 4.30pm, £8 (£6).
There are still those who go dewy eyed at the sight of a fluffy Kangol hat or fake gold chains, harking back to the days of 80s hip hop when rappers were kings of the charts and they were never seen Without a posse of breakdancers.
Breakoancing has come a long way since those wrld days and the progression of this highly underrated
44 THE UST FESTIVAL GUIDE 3—10 Aug 2000