THEATRE PREVIEW Beyond Breaking Glass:
Part 2
The Hazel O’Connor story continues apace
‘Just make sure people know it’s the real Hazel O’Connor,’ says the lady herself, referring to her last visit to the Fringe when rumours abounded that Beyond Breaking Glass was a tribute show. Two years have passed since then and in that time she’s performed in Germany, New York, LA and beyond. ’Since Edinburgh, we took the show on the road and built it up to be a two-act thing. It’s exciting because everything we used to take a whole show to say, we now say in the first half. The second half becomes a gig with a few stories that nobody has heard before.’
If you didn't see her show last time, you missed a treat, with O’Connor laying bare the triumphs and pitfalls of a career in the music
MUSIC PREVIEW _ . Ceol Chaluim Chille Dynamic Earth folk highlight
Bringing together the common Gaelic culture of Ireland - both North and South - and Scotland, is the Hebrides- based Iomairt Chaluim Chille (Columba Initiative) for one of the finest concerts of the Festival.
larla O Lionard, known all over the world as singer in the Afro Celt Sound System, is far more than vocal colour in that cult groove machine. Admired as one of the great sean nos (old style) Irish singers, he was brought up surrounded by the musical traditions of county Cork and the sophisticated musicality of composer/conductor Sean 0 Riada and his family.
From Belfast comes flute player Desi Wilkinson on a rare visit this side of the North Channel, while representing Scots Gaels are Skye singer Ann Martin, pianist/harp player Ingrid Henderson, and singer/piper Anna Murray. They are a symbol of the major renaissance for traditional music among the younger generations in the Highlands and Islands. (Norman Chalmers)
I Ceol Chaluim Chille (Fringe) Dynamic Earth (Venue 78) 530 3557, 23 Aug, 8.30pm, £70 (£8).
BOOK PREVIEW
lrvine Welsh And Niall Griffiths
Voices of silent majority speak out The underclass and less than privileged have been Irvine Welsh's muse since his explosion onto the literary scene with
industry. Harpist Cormac De Barra creates an atmospheric backing for the singer’s emotive voice and this time Angolan percussionist Mario N'Goma has been added into the mix. 'The show is intimate with energy,’ she says. ’That's why putting in percussion doesn’t harm it; it’s almost like you can tweak it into becoming a gig where people can dance if they want.’ Her trademark hits ’Will You' and ‘Eighth Day’ feature along with new material, written over the last year.
(£5).
Trainspotting and The Acid House. Welsh has had a long wait for a genuine contender to his throne, but Niall Griffiths has arrived to challenge. Who says 50? Well, Mr Welsh for one.
The publication of the Liverpool-born, Wales-based writer's debut Grits (the disenfranchised are set on the west coast of Wales rather than the menacing streets of Edinburgh's housing estates) was helped along its way with a cover quote of phrases such as ’astonishing feat’ and ’unmistakable brilliance’.
It's the kind of words attributed to Welsh's early work before critics felt he was beginning to stretch credibility and lose his way with Ecstacy and Filth. But Welsh has never written for the critics but for individuals who never make it into the literati mafia Welsh rails against. And now he may have met his match. (Brian Donaldson)
I lrvine Welsh And Niall Griffiths (Book) Charlotte Square Gardens, 624 5050, 22 Aug, 8.30pm, £7.50 (£5.50).
The trips to LA have paid off too, and a film of the show, featuring the singer’s old friends Charles Dance and Joe McGann, is just having the finishing touches done. We'd better look out for Part 3 to the Hazel O’Connor story. (Louisa Pearson)
I Beyond Breaking Glass: Part 2 (Fringe) Hazel O’Connor, Claremont Bar & Restaurant (Venue 795) 226 5 738, 78—28 Aug (not 79, 23, 26) 8pm; 79, 26 Aug, 6pm, 70pm, £6
MUSIC PREVIEW Horse 5070, quartet shows from Scots fave Fans of Horse McDonald should prepare to be out of pocket this year as she’s putting on three very different shows. ’Solo’ sees her putting it all on the line for the first two performances, both musically and emotionally. 'lt’s a personal struggle being up there on your own and it still has me flummoxed every time,’ she says.
’Our Lips Shouldn't Touch' sees Horse
Ms O’Connor is still a glass act
doing something unusual: performing covers. Originally commissioned for Glasgay, the show addresses the lack of music written specifically for gay people, reclaiming anthems from Judy Garland, Elton John and even an aria by Gluck. Following up Both Sides, her recent recording with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Horse's final performance is with piano and quartet. ’The quartet is so dynamic,’ she insists. ’People wouldn't imagine how loud and strong and in your face it can be.’ Horse has clearly got all music bases covered. (Louisa Pearson) I Horse (Fringe) Continental Shifts at St Bride’s Centre (Venue 62) 346 7405, 23—26 Aug, 8pm, £70 (£8).
COMEDY The Hollow Men: Live At The Lounge ***** Scatological comedy at its finest A delightful evening of cabaret, music and song, Live At The Lounge is made even more pleasant by a healthy injection of filth-ridden debauchery.
Home to the world's immigrants, the Lounge is a melting pot of international deviancy where child molesters, stalkers and scatologically- obsessed club owners run amok. Hosted by the shy and retiring 'Oily’ Mike Wrong, with the musical magic of Lounge band Hot Slava, highlights on stage include the Viennese mime artist doing a rendition of Nathalie
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lmbruglia's ’Torn’ and the funky monks with a Latin version of All Saints' ’Never Ever’. Sick, twisted and very, very funny. (Catherine Bromley)
I The Hollow Men: Live At The Lounge (Fringe) Hollow Men, Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 275 7, until 28 Aug (not 23) 8. 75pm, £6/£7.
THEATRE
Feds 8: Meds **** One-man conspiracy show
Dan Bredemann has something to get off his chest. And while conspiracy theories can often be crashingly, stupefyingly dull, Bredemann's investigations into the shadowy machinations surrounding alternative medicine in the USA have created a pretty stimulating piece of theatre.
Much of this is down to the writer/performer’s charisma. After some unnecessary incoherent ranting, during which the audience is made to feel complicit in some heinous but unspecified crime, Bredemann relaxes into his storytelling.
Creating a diverse array of characters without so much as a change of facial expression, the talented performer draws us into the extraordinary world of his experiences, challenging us to draw our own conclusions. (Allan Radcliffe)
I Feds & Meds (Fringe) Frantic Redhead Productions, Randolph Studio (Venue 55) 225 5366, until 28 Aug, 9.70pm, £7 (£5).
THEATRE
Crucifixion ****
Extreme political art
The assault begins from the moment we enter the theatre and there is no reprieve. Trussed-up and hanging on a rack, Yehoshua is the second coming and is being tortured at Auschwitz. In charge of his physical suffering is Boger, a man with a vernacular to make Vinnie Jones blush and a sadistic streak that would have the Marquis de Sade hiding.
But while it is the relentless physical abuse that repels the audience, it is the spiritual torture that is the point. In this brutal political piece, Christ is raped of his spirituality; it is as compelling as it is appalling. (Viv Franzmann)
‘ I Crucifixion (Fringe) Badac Theatre Company Hill Street g Theatre (Venue 4 7) 226 6522, until 28 Aug, 8.30pm, £7 (£5.50).
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