Theatre
SNUFF
A nightmare vision of Britain, filtered through the war in Iraq 0...
SQUEEZE BOX
Wickedly hilarious storytelling O...
to the climactic scene.
()pening With a man in a suit trying to get reception on his mobile -— duh! It's the land of the dead — the show sWittly establishes that this lovelorn yuppie is yenturing into these uncharted depths in search of his beloved girlfriend. Initially. his tailing memoryprevents him from completing his guest. even with the help ior perhaps noti of a wily musicianguide. But as the man's
Here's a shox'.’ that realty packs a punch. And {ilil‘.()tl(ll‘ .'.'-tr:i .irii.~"t::i Davey Andersen's neg: Ha. irairité. a nightriiaiish yisori of inodei'; fir-taxi. dett writing. spot on par: rig and 2: can of dynamic perforir‘ar i'o’l‘: iir
leiguson and \Stexet‘ Hitrrxgt: feaav.
memory returns to him. it becomes ‘
clear all is not what it seems. not least one feeling eiterg-sed rat-"er .: ,'_ 2... r ‘.'.eege
the loyers' relationship. thorougth tie-pressed. :' i :: .3, _: r _: {\‘f.’ i. Ke-xm
Hitting between the underworld and lhe action and triat's a". or .- .ir c . ," .iw-t i.
our world. Maxwell's play. full of the ‘.'.’()t(l here takes i,:a<‘~- t" v '1».- (L'-.-.-»' .. r' l.-:r<}."‘~ '-
wordplay of a poet. proves to be an (I()llllli(?f3()i£lSCH/1"» “at :H a (3 “arr i-.~r 2' :,.:"'.- 'i t 17'. .'.<:-.,-" tinm no.5;
astute interrogation of the nature of lo=.'.'er block. lheie. a (litling’ m; I. r r, .i r: ' i i
love and of relationships. What xvvorks paranoid young man litilf‘ierl Ken 'l:-:'tttif(‘ l '\ ' r, arraiae- Ann Randolph is exceptional. Based between two people and what goes 't(?l'tltlf;(1.":r"i£tf% .'.".lr<lr.i'.'..'i front t"- f“'t';tT-’."‘ " ; W's...” r i. r\ .rlX’l tears on her experiences n'roi'king at a wrong between them is here laid ‘.'.’()li(l. barricading Wurst"? -r“.4 i‘ v :i'dr '1‘- : . Us t.;.-.ards homeless shelter for mentally ill painfully bare. And working with home. .'.”‘rr’?.'(- he Ltl)f>-er$f3".t}|. a.” arr-.4"; :1 ax _.°.f- -' . :1‘;.."‘ot;; \.'.'ornen. her performance is a di//ying almost nothing in the way of a set portraits c‘ eeoitle 4:". "r s rigtlrr »'\"«_l-u'~.: r v a rt-r .i/r-rqwrrir'ct .s {1; tour of her own lite. llei talent and lalthough the the Caves of Baby Belly camera.‘.'.’?‘e'*l<<:‘.vi"$1.>'ripart%.., tn :ft: . gir l', imagination bring us brilliant portrayals li"()‘.’!(l€‘ a helpful subterranean comes psrti'tg; 1": lean-1: t'rcr'. a ." '44:. fer' ,' " "M tJK {tl‘(l of people from hei past and present: atmospherel. the cast of three do a duty in Irati. .'.'-'itrl(: :rre irrazr'iew. tr‘r- tn»..- :,r.:r ,-~:,-r' .is;g,'..ri.
old friends. he" boyfriend. the expi‘essioiiiess {tiltiflltllOlllfSl and the \.'-.r'omen front the shelter. She's outrageously ltl‘gfiiltiiit. iiii‘tping from one character f“ incredible ease ain’t clever"; juxtaposing poignar‘t {ifltl emotional moments with sketcl‘ies ot sheer hilarity. Brandy. the chain srvioking prostitute resident at the shelter is iepi‘esentt‘:d re a superb caricature by Randolph: this woman can captiyate her audience at an instant. inducing fits of giggles tze'oie hztting us with a harsher t.'.~st in ."er tale. the story rtselt sneaks of her personal dilemma. a frustration at life's monotony and the curse of being an energetic optimist who can't sag. no. lheie's no set or piops. aside from a guitar and a banio ili(;()."l)()l'£tit;‘(l .nto the action and so it's '.'.':t.“ a certain degree of ax‘xe that you 'eaiise your detailed \.is.o'i of Randolph's life was create-i. solely by her, lhis is a story about real issues. '.'.'."-i<:." makes a funny. touching and tral‘. "e‘resi‘ng piece of theatre.
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I Asse'r‘b 3. Hoot rs. 226 2/11/19. i/riti/ Psi/lug. '."..'>’:’)p/r:. 5‘70 l‘l/ I519 5‘10).
fine lob of creating two believable '1:t\!"">’ul"if f"-« "one 8'1/7‘ :; a worlds. tlvliles Fielder .1« at 3"." :-~; :r’ I Baby/Belly 0870 74:3 3083. uni/ms WEDNESDAY 17 . I: s. Put i .erie.
Aug (not 16). 2.40pm, 58:50 419.50 I . . '-- -.'. fiat;
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THE FOREVER WALTZ Clever contemporary spin on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice O...
AN OAK TREE Powerful illusion .00.
A lot is said about the power of the performer, as well as the performance space itself, while Crouch creates
l’oet playwright (ilyn Max‘srell's contemporary take on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice cleverly overturns the myth. and in doing so
keeps the audience guessing as to the
exact nature of nailiat's going right up
We see so much metanarrative in the theatre these days that it’s very easy to tire of it. Yet when this idea of the story told - while it is exposed as a fiction, its mechanics laid bare for all to see - is done well, it is a delightful experience. Tim Crouch’s new show does this with astonishing aplomb, creating a kind of elegant simplicity in asking an audience to do something very complex.
For we are asked to buy into a patent illusion, which, in its boxes within boxes structure, is in itself about the power of illusion. In this piece, a stage hypnotist has killed a child in a motor accident, and finds that the kid’s father has appeared at his show, seeking answers for his grief. The disorientated father has surrogated his daughter for a tree next to where the child died, believing, on a quite literal level, that she lives on in the tree. We also see his wife, destroyed by both the loss of the child, and her husband’s sudden neurosis, and his daughter, played by a chair. It’s all done by Crouch and a single volunteer, to whom he hands scripts and feeds lines as he goes along. It’s difficult to convey all the humour and pathos with which all this unfolds.
his hammy, populist hypnotist for home counties C55. His meticulously timed miscues and gaffs, his interventions as the actor playing the hypnotist and his quietly endearing self-referential allusions to the text delight from end to end. In an era when we are so used to stories about stories and their telling, where journalists interview other journalists about not the content of their story, but its presentation and we see endless films about filmmaking, it is refreshing to see a genuine emotional energy added to all this mediation of reality.
Crouch is superb. Just as with his My Arm two years ago, his self-effacing style makes you want to cuddle him, and the sudden disjunctions between show, actor and character fascinate, while his interactions with his volunteer make one comfortably anxious about the performance, while at the same time buying into its story. Go see. You’ll be on his side, I promise.
(Steve Cramer)
66 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE ' 1 1'". An; 4):”;