IOI“V.II IDM-ij theatre comedy dance music books
{ THEATRE Hanging On Your Every
Wor *** How to survive suicide
Sitting cross-legged in an intimate theatre watching a series of set pieces about suicide may not strike you as light entertainment, but writer/director Suze Allen's play isn't all doom and gloom. In the aftermath of her real-life lover's death, Allen set up discussions, interVIews and art projects with suicide survivors and sufferers of depression, upon which she based her work. Performed With no room for mawkish sentiment, Hanging. . . powerfully portrays the myriad faces of depression. With only one problem: you don't sing about suicide. Especially not musical numbers reminiscent of OliVia Newton John mourning the loss of her Summer Love. Very strange, but thankfully not enough to totally blow it. (Betty Offerman)
5.: Hanging On Your Every Word (Fringe) California Travel Troupe,
Rocket @ South Bridge Resource Centre (Venue 723) t . 558 9997, until " 79 Aug (not ' mt- . 73) 7.45pm, ""‘ ‘ a 55 (f4). Shunt get to the bottom of the Ballad Of Bobby Francois Emir-2E t T A I prostitute, a gangster and creaky THEQTREk d' u Jec o nge s *** floorboards, Subject To Ange/s makes w ac e f ** , , Shallow Grave meets Indecent Agatha Christie's later works look Tou h love in the criminal PrOposa/ m a B & 8 original. Though hardly the freshest un erwor/d Various cliches in a remote hotel show in town, there is much to enjoy Yet another piece of work about Everyone's are interrupted by a gangster in this impeccable production of a gangsters, but this time told from the got a price in \ on the run with £6 million weak play; stellar performances, perspective of the moll rather than the Subject To in his swag bag. He then atmospheric lighting, great design and 'ard man geezer. This monologue is an Angels ‘ questions the morality of music keep you watching. interesting idea, but the potential is the group by making (Paul Dale) not fully realised; the script tells us \ them confess exactly Subject To Ange/s (Fringe) Gilded little more about living life as a "x, what they would be Balloon Cave (Venue 38) 226 2757, gangster's squeeze than we already ' prepared to do for until 28 Aug (not Mon) 2pm, £6.50 know or can at least imagine. There the money. (£5.50). are, however, glimmers of dark Featuring smug comedy and the end is a genuine newlyweds, a THEATRE surprise. Sarah McGuinness' I disenchanted The Ballad Of Bobby performance is understated and sexy travelling Francons *** while the use of sound and visuals is '» salesman, a MUtlmedia b/aCk comedy ambitious, but ultimately the crusty Shunt’s multimedia extravaganza production does little but quietly swell landlady, a places the audience at the very heart an already swollen genre. (Viv of the proceedings. A stewardess (who Franzmann) is, rather worryingly, unsure of the a Whacked.’ (Fringe) Gilded Balloon safety procedures and more than a (Venue 36) 226 2 757, until 28 Aug, little tipsy) invites you to 'board' the 2.30pm, £7 (£6). Fairchild F-227, a plane which on 12
October 1972 was chartered by an amateur rugby team to go from .q\ g \~ Uruguay to Chile. It never
arrived.
Through minimal dialogue, mime and a soundtrack featuring a
mixture of ethereal music 1.‘ and drum & bass, the cast manage to i go some way to conveying the terror and disorientation suffered during a plane crash. They also tackle the subject of cannibalism with humour and verve. Unsettling and grotesquely comic. (Dawn Kofie) u The Ballad Of Bobby Francois (Fringe) Shunt, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not Tue) 2.30pm, f7_50/£8.50 Sarah McGuinness proves she's not all (f6 50/f7_ 50). front in Whacked!