Theatre
NEXT ISSUE OUT MAY 12
IAIN HEGGIE EXPOSES HIMSELF Blameless self- publicist
lain Heggie is happy enough to proclaim himself an egomaniac and a control freak. so if you‘re about to have a go at him. hold yOur tongue. You might also bear in mind that he's one of Scotland's finest dramatists.
But there's something else. He's also very funny. Heggie's observations. be they of art. sexuality. politics or just living yOur life. are so aphoristically phrased and deftly delivered that you can seldom finish a chat with him without giggling. So this one-man comedic monologue. which he tells us is biographical in source. sounds like an hour well spent. and in good company.
(Steve Cramer)
I Metro Gl/ed Ba/loon Caves. 668 7633. 8—30 Aug. 5.45pm, E7—E8 (f6— 7). Prevrews 6—7 Aug. 8.30pm. £4.50.
HITLER SELLS TICKETS Kinky jackboots
Writer/comedian Boothby Graffoe and actress Beth Fitzgerald are sat in a London pub with what might be only the latest glass of wine before them. just juiced enough to talk about politics and just sober enough to make sense.
A relief because explaining the aphrodisiac qualities of fascism might take some doing.
Graffoe explains the prognosis. ‘An ordinary Italian peasant goes into the army in World War II. and when his hair is cut it's realised he looks like Mussolini. So he's set up as Mussolini's double. After the war. he returns to his village. where his wife. who didn't fancy him before. finds him a turn on when he looks like Mussolini.‘ Let's not go into all that stuff about Freud and the idea of female sexuality being the dark continent. but it makes y0u think. in what sounds like a th0ughtfu| comedy. (Steve Cramer).
I Assemb/y Rooms. 226 2428. 6—30 Aug (not 77), 4pm, £72/El 7 (£7 7-270).
LOSING VENICE Love and war in 17th century Venice
John Clifford's first play Losing Venice won a Fringe First in 1985. Now. almost 20 years later. this international production by Art Immediate and Polish director Aldona Figura is brought to the Edinburgh Fringe after a successful run in Venice and Nonhem Italy, the place of its historical setting. It's an exploration of war. conquest and love that
BILL HICKS: A SLIGHT RETURN
The Prince of Darkness is back
Bill Hicks RIP wrote the book. He wrote it, he burned it and then he inhaled it. By the time he bit the big one and died of cancer at the preciously young age of 33, America’s most unrelenting and unredeemable politically forthright stand-up comedian had pointed out the not unreasonable truth that the world would be a better place if anyone involved in sales, politics or the military were to go and kill themselves. Funnier than a cure for cancer, Hicks may have been the foul mouthed John the Baptist-style prophet to Michael Moore’s comedy agit prop messiah but just how good would it have been to see the boy from Valdosta, Georgia, the self appointed Prince of Darkness, take on Bush Jr
and his crony phoney army.
Well, now you can, courtesy of Chas Early and Richard Hurst’s new play. Hurst is the director who has brought numerous plays to Edinburgh including Play Wisty for Me and The Life and Death of Peter Cook. Early, who plays Hicks, is a trained actor and veteran of numerous stage, TV and cabaret comedy productions. Hurst takes up the story of their curiously imaginative collaboration.
‘It was actually Chas’ idea originally. I mean, we’d worked together before and he came to me a year and a half ago saying, “I’ve got this idea about doing a show about Bill Hicks.” I think he’d just read the biography American Scream. Although it’s very much a play it does mostly take the form of a stand-up show. The premise is that Hicks comes back to earth having been dead for ten years and rants about the things that we guessed he would be interested in like Iraq, Bush, Columbine, drugs, porn and smoking. The usual sort of predilections. The thing is, Hicks has a kind of special place in people’s hearts. As Kevin Booth, one of his friends, wrote: ‘Actually Bill didn’t mind people kind of using his stuff if they evolved the ideas.’ (Paul Dale)
I P/easance Courtyard. 556 6550, 5—30 Aug (not 7 l, 78). 2.45pm, l..‘9.5()—lj8.50 (EB—l7).
68 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 53—»12 Aug 200:1
JULIE BURCHILL IS AWAY
Hack to the future.
‘Society is always going to be celebrity obsessed. If a Fringe show had a Big Brother star in it people would go. The difference is few writers are that interesting; Julie’s the exception.’ As Fringe veteran Jackie Clune, star of Julie Burchill ls Away, returns to the Fringe, it’s difficult to imagine what — two years after its inaugural outing - this Burchill inspired one-woman show has to offer. The Fringe, after all, is a fresh-faced arena.
Writer Tim Fountain’s Resident Alien (the award-winning tale about Quentin Crisp) was a huge hit in 2002. And Fountain’s idea of immortalising another controversial figure in the form of Britain’s most loved/hated female columnist a solid one. But slightly dated now, perhaps? ‘Not at all,’ says Clune. ‘The very nature of what she does means that the script can be refreshed almost daily. Since the curtain went up for the first time, so much new material has emerged.’
Some have criticised Clune’s performance for being too soft - the antithesis of Burchill’s ball- busting hack persona. ‘People are surprised. Especially about the voice; they’ve created an alter— image of Julie in their own head. They don’t expect this West Country, childlike voice; they want to hear 3 Fleet Street drawl. But, generally the response has been good.’
And will the Queen Bee herself be making an appearance at the show? ‘We’ll bully her into coming up to see one of the performances; you’ve got to see Edinburgh over the Festival, haven’t you?’ says Clune. Julie Burchill being bullied: I’d pay a tenner to see that. (Victoria Hammett)
IAsse/nl)/y Rooms. 226 2428. 6—30Aug (not 5). 76/. 4.05pm. .f‘l2—5‘l l (l‘l l—f‘l()/.
challenges the construction of histow and truth.
A sexually frustrated Spanish Duke travels to Venice with foolish. vainglorious initiatives to conquer the city.
Along for the
expedition is Ouevedo. his cOurt poet. and Pablo. his manservant. They have many adventures along the way. interfering with people's lives with no regard for the consequences. It's only
natural to expect superb acting from a cast of eight European actors who come from such diverse. respected theatre backgrounds as the Cracow Theatre State Academy. the Theatre
founded in Paris by Augusto Boal. directed by Rui Frati. and the Odin Teati'et.
(Andrea Harkinj
I Ko/ned/a Roman Eagle Lodge. 226 7207. 6—22 Aug. 4.40pm, ff? (SIS/£73.50).