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COMEDY All That Mullarkey *‘k‘k
Silly name-based shenanigans
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Laughs with Mr Mullarkey
BaSing a one hour comedy routine around your own name might seem to some slightly egocentric, but Neil Mullarkey (real name, apparently) does just that, and although not a side- splitting show, you're guaranteed a pleasant enough time and a few chuckles along the way. Mullarkey examines the effect our names have on our lives through a number of knowingly thespy set pieces about his ancestors (both real and imaginary), but it's when he deviates from the script and shows his ObVIOUS talent for improvisation that you get the real laughs. Warning — do not attend this show if you have a silly name.
(Doug Johnstone)
, All That Mullarkey (Fringe) Neil Mullarkey, Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2757, until 28 Aug (not 27) 5.30pm, £8 (£7).
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THEATRE Kindling By Lynn Ferguson ****
Explosive emotions and antics
Lynn Ferguson's follow up to Heart And Soul (her debut for which she won The Stage's Best Actress Award) is a tale of bonking, booze and fireworks. lt centres on both the differing concerns of and familial traumas shared by Ellen and Douglas,
; a middle-aged couple and their
daughter Jennifer (Ferguson). Blunt, § unpretentious and packed with
‘ tongue-in-cheek humour, Kind/ing
takes on the task of navigating the minefield that constitutes our potentially exploswe everyday relationships. It does so With passron, sensitivity and a finely tuned ear for the undeniable truths about life, love and, of course, fireworks.
(Dawn Kofie)
23 Kind/ing By Lynn Ferguson (Fringe) Lynn Ferguson, Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2757, until 28 Aug, 5.30pm,
£8.50 (£7.50).
THEATRE PREVIEW
Lena
A new direction for sitcom queen Car/a Lane
From the pen that created ClaSSICS like Butterflies and Bread comes the tail of fortysomething frustrated Liverpool housewife, Lena. No surprises there, then? ’The play is definitely Carla Lane,’ says director and star Kate Marlow, ’it has her style and quality of writing, but
l I think what may be different is what ; can be achieved when live theatre is 3 combined With her writing.’
Lena is being staged With many Sitcom conventions; Guy Pratt, composer of mu5ic for Randal/And
E Hopkirk (Deceased) and Fat Les’s ’Vin- g da—loo’, has created a theme tune,
while projected onto onstage monitors are images from cameras hidden in the
Pants over trousers or panto? American Eagle 2000 ‘
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Making sparks fly - Lynn Ferguson in Kindling
washing machine and cooker. ’What I
wanted to show with the television
: was What’s really happening inside this
woman's head,’ says Marlow. But it's not all kitchen sink drama. ’I think
A
there's a few shockers in there for anybody expecting throwaway Carla Lane. There’s a few spicy things going on in that kitchen.’ (Louisa Pearson)
a Lena (Fringe) Valley Community Theatre, Pleasance Below (Venue 33) 556 6550, 76—28 Aug, 3.20pm, £8.50 (£7.50).
THEATRE American Eagle 2000 ** Comic book superhero as panto figure A brief history of the American comic book superhero phenomenon as exemplified by generic red, White and blue spandex-clad muscleman American Eagle (in fact a combination of Superman and Captain America). Beginning with American Eagle’s origins in the 405, the show whizzes through US history — taking in World War II, the Cold War, psychedelia, Vietnam, Watergate and the Gulf Crisis — to arrive at the noughties and the conclusion that 1) the American Dream is dead and 2) superheroes are consistently reinvented as a barometer
l of the times. The script’s solid enough,
if derivative. It’s undermined, however, by being played as goofy pantomime. (Miles Fielder)
J;- American Eagle 2000 (Fringe) Carpe Diem, Gilded Balloon (Venue 36) 226 2757, until 28 Aug (not Mon) 4pm, £8 (£7).