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THEATRE Rum And Vodka 8: The Good Thief *****
Bold new voices from award- winning playwright
Following the success of The Weir, Conor McPherson reasserts his position at the forefront of Irish playwrights with two hard-hitting monologues.
From the mean streets of Dublin come two nameless characters — one a confused young man (Alan Mooney) made old before his time in Rum And Vodka, the other a small time gangster (Brendan Fleming) employed to do a scare job that turns into a bloodbath in The Good Thief. Infused with raw, honest emotion, both stories present life on the edge and, despite having to compete against the din emanating from Cookin’, the show upstairs, first class performances shine through in theatre at its best. (Catherine Bromley) I Rum And Vodka 8 The Good Thief (Fringe) Sal/y Vaughan and Richard Jordan Productions, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 28 Aug, 6pm, £9/f 70 (f8/f9).
EVENT Naked For Dinner? **** Dining in the dark
You're lead, blindfolded, into a darkened room, and separated from whoever you arrive with. There, you’re seated and fed dinner, not knowing with whom you are conversing. Alastair, the gent next to me, chatted away, and managed pouring his wine rather better than myself — wear your old togs, by the way. At the end of the evening, the lights go up, and you’re intrigued to see your companions. One could imagine it all going horribly wrong on some nights, but my dining companion reported similar fraternity at her table, and it's the only event at this Fringe, where I’ve seen most of the previously unacquainted : audience track off to the pub '3' together after an agreeable meal. Intriguing. (Steve Cramer)
I Naked For Dinner? (Fringe) 29b Walker Street (Venue 779) 226 5 738, until 20 Aug, 7.30pm, £70 (£8).
Everyone’s teaching nightmare: Mr Bagshaw
42 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 17—24 Aug 2000
DANCE New York City Ballet *****
Big Apple shows its polish
When the young George Balanchine arrived in New York from Russia in 1933, he had a very clear idea about what he wanted to achieve. Before he’d even entertain the idea of a company, he wanted a school. And you can see why. The company’s dancers move in a distinctive manner that's pure Mariinsky mixed with New York show girl. The women boast long limbs attached to waif like bodies, trained to the point of perfection. The men are muscle bound jaguars lifting and leaping with awesome strength. It's an unbeatable package, and anybody taking a seat in the Playhouse this week will remember the occasion for a long, long time. (Kelly Apter)
I New York City Ballet (International) Playhouse, until 79 Aug, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm) £5-f37.
COMEDY
Phil Davey 3H:
Sex, Australian style
Aussie beach bum Davey is looking for love at the festival. Or at least looking to spread some therapeutic laughs on the subject thereof. To this end he bounces onto the stage and attempts to embarrass the audience into comic submission. Getting the audience to imitate sex noises is developing into a theme of this year’s festival, and truly it is a cheap trick, but Davey possesses just about enough cheeky charm to get away with it. His material is pretty standard stand-up stuff, but he raises the laughs with a verve and effervescent energy which is contagious. (Ross Holloway)
I Phil Davey (Fringe) Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, untilAug 28, 7pm, £8.50/f9 (£7.50/f8).
THEATRE Mr. Bagshaw H:
Mackenzie Crook brings back the worst of our schooldays
Mr. Bagshaw will uncover memories of that sarcastic, bad-breathed academic who caused you so much grief at school. Bagshaw is, admittedly, so much like those track- , suited high school Hitlers of yore that, often, Crook’s .. uncanny performance doesn’t even feel like a comedy routine. But however astute Crook’s character observations might be, the bulk of the actual material is simple stuff: prepare / yourself for plenty of ’unintentional’ innuendos and playground piss-taking, and be warned: despite listings information to the contrary, the show I saw lasted a mere A forty-odd minutes. Crook,
THEATRE Don Juan *****
Don Juan to miss this one
Brilliant re-interpreta tion of Mo/iere classic
It's quite possible to stage Don Juan as farce. Moliere’s lascivious hero is a symbol of all our repressed desires, a libertarian with a psychotic passion for picking up women and, just as quickly, dropping them for someone new. The playwright makes sure we see the consequences of his actions, it’s just that Don Juan never suffers from them himself. The comedy is the comedy of broken taboos, of transgression, of excess. It allows us to ask 'what if?’ and see the fantasy played out.
It'd be wrong to say Mats Ek's bold and intelligent production for Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre was not interested in the comedy - indeed, the staging complements the text with a cool wit of its own — but its real concern is with the psychology of a man addicted to superficial pleasure. Don Juan, superbly played by an imposing Mikael Persbrandt, has no more depth than the sentimental scenic backcloth behind him, but even his most outrageous behaviour is underscored by a looming sense of the morose. This is Don Juan as existential cross-examination, picking up on Moliere's morality and pushing it to its logical extreme.
Add to this Ek's choreographic interventions, vigorous contemporary dance top-and-tailing each scene that finds physical form for the characters' hidden impulses, and you have a brilliant production that brings emotional depth to the surface comedy. (Mark Fisher)
I Don Juan (International) Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm, Royal Lyceum Theatre, 473 2000, 77 Aug, 7.30pm, £6-f22.50.
see me after class. (Olly Lassman) I Mr. Bagshaw (Fringe), Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 2 7) 6.20pm, £8 (£7).
COMEDY
supergirly: Naughty But Nme***
Dion gets a doin’ and Cher gets her share
This form of cabaret entertainment can be difficult in such a large space as the EICC, but the girlies cope admirably. A succession of pop parodies, where the lyrics to the original artists’ songs are altered, somewhat to their detriment, had the audience belly laughing from the up. From reflections upon the sexual orientations of Mel C and Ricky Martin, through a speculation about Cher's antiquity, to a commentary on a night of alcoholic and sexual excess to the music of Celine Dion, the girlies show wit and style. Some of their songs needed to be shaved of a chorus or two to avoid repetition, but this is a good night out. (Steve Cramer)
I Supergir/y: Naughty But Nice (Fringe) Supergir/y, E/CC (Venue 75 I)
0870 900 4555, 19—20 Aug, 7.30pm & 70pm, £72.50.
THEATRE
Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind ***
A mixed bag, to a fault
While the idea of a show that incorporates 30 plays in 60 minutes conveys precisely the frenetic energy levels involved in this production, its effect is a little hit and miss. A series of tiny epiphanic playlettes range from the satirical to the tragic, their order of performance dictated by the whims of the audience.
Some of these are great fun, but the deliberate lack of structure leaves the audience with too many emotional leaps to make between the very serious and the purely spurious. No one but the brave will admit it, but we crave for structure in both life and art. (Steve Cramer)
I Too Much Light Makes The Baby 60 Blind (Fringe) Neo-Futurists, The Bongo Club (Venue 743) 556 5204, until 26 Aug (not 20—2 7) 6.30pm, £7.