IP’“V.I- OPM'ODM theatre comedy dance music books
THEATRE Graft: Tales Of An Actor ****
Steven Berkoff’s book made flesh by George Dillon
A one-hour solo performance about failure and unrequited talent, Graft blow-torches the facade off the acting world. The empty bitterness of the self-loathing soul of acting comes through in Berkoff’s crippling poetic language and is stunningly executed by the genius of George Dillon. Vocally compelling, Dillon is an actor with it all. His electric desperation and vitriol collide with painful cravings of the soul, to produce a truly powerful performance. Never indulgent, Dillon’s physicality is organically and poignantly precise. Initially, there is a worry that he is too much the disciple of Berkoff, but his own idiosyncratic, requited talent soon soars.
(Davie Archibald)
I Graft: Tales Of An Actor (Fringe) Komedia @ Southside (Venue 82) 667 2272, unti/27 Aug (not 74) 6. 70pm, £70 (£5).
COMEDY
AutoBoosh *****
This motorised Boosh can’t lose What makes The Boosh such an addictive coupling IS they are the illogical step on from all other comic duos. Where the others, even Vic and Bob, acted weird in our world, the Boosh have a universe all of their own where cockney gentleman gangsters, huge-faced rabbits and the Man in the Moon all happily co-exist. And it's very, very funny.
AutoBoosh is Withnail And / meets Alice In Wonderland meets MotOrhead and while it’s scrappy in places, this only adds to the charm. The Boosh are steps away from genius, so here’s hoping they choose the right shoes for the job next time. (Mark Robertson) AutoBoosh (Fringe) The Boosh, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 22) 7.30pm, £8.50—£9.50 (£7.50—£8. 50).
mpxms . Birth Rite ****
Repressed religious fanatic lets loose
’My first language was music,’ declares an impassioned Elizabeth Hess dressed in the traditional costume of the devout Mennonite faith.
This is only the first outlet for her passionate fervour. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll are soon to follow in this journey through repression and release. Eyes gleaming, Hess ecstatically recounts her life story, barely pausing for breath as she throws herself headlong into tales of debauched rebellion, and as the show progresses her formal attire is stripped away to reveal a woman finally at peace with her identity and her faith. Invigorating from start to finish, this one-woman show is a compelling expenence.
(Catherine Bromley)
I Birth Rite (Fringe) Pleasance (Venue 23) 556 6550, 70—28 Aug (not 22) 6.05pm, £6.50/£7.50 (£5.50/£6.50).
THEATRE
Abandonment ****
Two histories in one play
What lies at the heart of Kate Atkinson’s comedy drama is a fact of modern living. We’re extended enormous personal freedoms these days, but only succeed in oppressing ourselves when we think we're exploring them.
Abandonment is in fact two stories running parallel. Elizabeth (Patricia Kerrigan) is a contemporary woman trying to live in a Victorian house, without too much interference from a mechanically promiscuous sister (Elaine C. Smith) and moralising mother (Sheila Reid). Meanwhile, the ghost of a former tenant, the Victorian governess Agnes (Michelle Gomez) goes through her own dramas. There's some strong comic sequences on the way, and if there’s a slightly overcooked feel to the Victorian sequences, good performances and some clever narrative framing devices overwhelm this minor flaw.
(Steve Cramer)
I Abandonment (Fringe) Traverse Theatre Company, Traverse (Venue 75) 228 7404, until 26 Aug (not Mon) times vary, £72 (£7.50).
THEATRE
El Pez En Al Asfalto mth Colourful Cuban dance
In ’E/ Pez en el Asfa/to’ (Fish in Asphalt), leading Cuban dance-theatre practitioners, Danzabierta, introduce us to six hustling down-and-outs who temporarily spice up their miserable lives with camp, colour and rhythm. Directed by choreographer Marianela Boan, this is great and deceptively shambolic entertainment, underpinned by social consciousness. The attractive cast seriously take the piss out of ’typical' Cuban behaviour while shedding hot light on the human condition. This bodes well for their other show, ’El Arbo/y el Camino’, which will run at the same venue from 17 August. (Donald Hutera)
I El Pez En Al Asfa/to (Fringe) Danzabierta, Gateway Theatre (Venue 7)3773639, unti/Aug 75, 7.30pm, £72 (£70); £6 limited standby at venue.
COMEDY
Dave Gorman - Are You Dave Gorman? *** Gorman-hunter continues his search Despite what he thinks, Dave Gorman is not a stand-up comedian. This is not a criticism you understand, this is a compliment. Dave Gorman is comedy’s amateur Desmond Morris or David Attenborough, he takes on essentially pointless tasks to illustrate just how strange the world we live in really is.
In this show Dave Gorman decided to try and meet up with as many other Dave Gorman's as he could find. This is a rather sweet idea but there is only one joke here: look how far I will go. His persistence is a spectacle in itself and his delivery is slick and witty, but it just makes you go ‘yeah, and so what?’ (Mark Robertson)
I Dave Gorman — Are You Dave Gorman? (Fringe) Dave Gorman, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 22) 7. 70pm, £8.50—£9.50 (£7.50—£8.50).
THEATRE . Safe Delivery ** Microscope melodrama
Ominoust described as a ’science play', Safe Delivery makes a valiant attempt to be much more than a theatrical Open University, but doesn’t quite make the grade. Despite some decent performances, this well- intentioned production clumsily struggles to blend 'edutainment' with more subtle, intimate character interaction and falls flat on both levels. Consisting of an uneasy combination of boy-meets-girI/sexism-in-the- workplace plotlines, a predictable 'cure-for-cancer’ sub-plot and some breathtakingly unimaginative multimedia sequences, there’s really nothing here that you haven’t seen before. Unsatisfying and surprisingly uninspired theatre, but admittedly, a pretty good science lesson. (Olly Lassman)
3: Safe Delivery (Fringe) Jumping Genes, Dynamic Earth (Venue 78) 530 3557, until73 Aug, 6. 75pm, £8 (£6).
THEATRE
Goodbye Desdemona *bk Homosexual heresy in Mother India This self-reflective two-hander follows the Indian Shakespeare Company’s journey from Fringe First winners last year through to rehearsals for their latest production. In the process, the traditional cultural envrronment from where the company hail is interrogated as the actors struggle to perform a gay Romeo And Juliet. Incorporating elements of Shakespeare’s texts with new writing by writer/director Roysten Abel, this production is always poetic and, in turn, comic and political, if ultimately and inevitably tragic. The plot seems a trifle forced, but it’s a powerful production which successfully uncovers the universality inherent in Shakespeare’s original text.
(Davie Archibald)
I Goodbye Desdemona (Fringe) Indian Shakespeare Company, Augustine’s (Venue752) 225 6575, until 79 Aug (not 74) 6.20pm; 22-28 Aug, 2.55pm, £8.50 (£6).
Victorian values, modern dilemmas: Abandonment
54 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 10—1 7 Aug 2000