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MANOPAUSE Men on the verge of a nervous breakdown 00.
As a ‘.'.'o'na'r revreWrng a show about the male :dentrty crrsrs. rt rs hard not to l:-.> a lrttle sceptrcal. Wasn't thrs a <ont‘epl (ire-amt up by FHA/7 et al to flll the ftallllltifl space alongsrde the latest r -lures of sernr clad celebs? Apparently not. Manopause asks the guestron "~.-.'hat does rt mean to be a rrr.>-.l~.,-rnrrran’?' and our blank faced :hrug of a response rs the show's r.tll;>!‘.l!(?.
lt ‘.‘.'(;d‘.t;r; together ‘xox pops. frlrn and «zrne skits set rn trastrons of M: ll...,."-.rl rhasr...i.nat‘, rthe lrenches. (\rrrrirt: f)<‘ltf)t',"_ arid the audience rs taken on a .rreal. (:ontentrous and o< t .l'.ltll'ltt?5‘) thought provokrng goerne‘.‘ rrrtt; the defrnrtron of man.
flt rvtrrv; Me as a serres of sketches ancl (Vlltrltérrngs. Born Readys stage r‘rw tr re. 'r'l gtrrte succeed rn narlrng r« gezhrr these preces and tends to .- act cabaret It teeters urn. exfltlrl‘l‘, between frlrn and theatre. when. a derrsue chorce of rnedrunr .'.( :: .' ll‘\r.e made thrs a clearer. more .: -:~n»l:'e r rcdtrctron. And thrs r retralrtr, oarld have worked better as a frlm Askrng the man (and woman) an the; street to descrrbe the modern mun. a f.(;.'l(3f; of short lrlms are edrted t» )l’l r ;,lll!(.illl‘,' and porgnanlly to gently '(3.'(;.l' the grovvrng rrft rn gender roles l(lorrre Mills} I .‘J'.'.t’:e=.' (go. 08/0941 ()lflb‘, unfr/ 29 Arr}, (’9 Jr'rprn, 5‘8 .47)
l(:(:l l'rxt': «'l (3'7:
THE NIGHT SHIFT Gripping psychological thriller .009
l lo.‘.' (lose (an we come to those
.rfflw lerr Ir». rleep neurosis rn lherr ernotronal make up'? Mark Murphy, 'Hllrl li()’.‘.' better known for hrs physrcal It. the .‘.'(,rk wrth V tol. makes an
a .,(,rrr: rli‘,'lr:(l debut as a more purely t~ xlrr riyxxrrter on thrs subject Wrth thrs
70 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE I I
guretly gr'lpprng psychological thrrller‘.
In rt. a young woman rs alflrcted wrth the terrrble debrlrtalron of a form of wakrng dreams. whrch blrghts her lrfe and that of her partner. Meanwhrle, her father. a man wrth a perhaps even deeper form of psychosrs. seeks help rn trackrng hrs daughter down from a lher‘aprst experrencrng counter transference. Revelatrons of vrolence and ernotronal drssocratron follow.
It's a slow burner. thrs one. and you have to strck wrth rt for the early rnrnutes. but as rt settles we feel a revelatory empathy wrth these people. sharrng a common ernotronal drscourse whrch mrght surprrse you; but there's also a vrolence whrch shocks. A couple of sweetly nuanced performances from Catherrne Dyson and .Jason Thorpe set rt all off nrcely. (Steve Cramer)
I Traverse Theatre, 2281404, untr/ 28 Aug. trmes vary. {‘1 I-rf‘8 (IT/1.50)
FAUST
Spectacular Polish theatre staging of Goethe 0000
Thrs brg. sprawlrng. balmy and scary stagrng of Goethe's eprc versron of the legend by Poland's Teatr Nowy rs a real spectacle. And that's a good thrng. because the show. whrch prernrered rn Po/nan rn May. rs rn Polrsh wrth no translatron. [)esprte drrector Janus/ Wrsnrewskr shavrng away much of the text lcondensrng Goethe's two books rnto a brrel 7() mrnutes). there's strll a lot of dralogue to contend wrth. Best then. to read or re read the orrgrnal. or at least go over the pamphlet outlrnrng the rndrvrdual scenes grven out before the start of the show.
Wrsnrewskr's versron of the story of a man who turns hrs back on God and phrlosophy and srgns away hrs sOul to the devrl Mephrstopheles rn return for earth bound gratrfrcatron emphasrses the relrgrous aspect. most obvrously (to non-Polrsh speakers) wrth the rmagery: a parody of the last supper. a re enactment of the crucrfrxron. and the unholy trrnrty of Faust. hrs love Gretchen and the hideous. crow Irke Mephrstopheles. And the whole show. whrch rs populated wrth a grotesque. puppet Irke cast that hangs Irrnp and Irfeless when not clownrng about. rs orchestrated by a perrpheral figure known as Master of the Altar the artist as ()od.
Wasn't that the overreachrng l aust's downfall? erleS Frelder)
I Ass Hub/y. 226 2-428. untr/ 1’?) Aug (not 1(5). 5.10pm. I‘M-I‘M) fl II." 5‘73).
18 Aug 7005)
THE RIOT GROUP - SWITCH TRIPTYCH
Individualism v collective beliefs 0...
The clash between spirituality and capitalism is one that lurks equally beneath the neo conservative revivalist right of the United States and its semi-mythic opponents in the Islamic world. But it’s most obvious in the dollar-driven churches of the former. Timely, then, that the splendid Riot Group should make their latest appearance at the Fringe with a piece that interrogates the issue of faith and worldly corruption. It also raises questions about technology and what we unquestioningly call progress which might resonate strongly through our blue chip age.
Adriano Shaplin’s production of his own play sees five disparate characters at a New York telephone exchange in a deliberatey anachronistic 1919. They bicker away, revealing a succession of belief structures and creeds to sustain them through the reifying processes of a burgeoning corporate economy. The manager (Andrew Friedman) has signed the pledge, and is battling alcoholism on the verge of prohibition. His assistant has signed away his soul for the corporation, and seeks only promotion. Then there are the telephonists, Pippa (Sarah Sandford), a woman simply intent on surviving New York, a new British trainee (Cassandra Friend), who turns out to be dedicated to unionising the workforce, and at the centre of it all, Lucille (Stephanie Viola), a woman who has adapted her Italian Catholicism to eccentric purposes in order to incorporate the corruption of her world. All are threatened with redundancy by new technology, and each pursues a strategy of survival in a hostile environment.
This gives you the story, but as ever with the Riot group, it’s really all about the style. Shaplin’s crisply aphoristic text leaps from one profound, complete and witty observation to the next. The strange poetic style of the language creates the perfect distance from which to view the play’s issues, while the insistent, discordant electronic piano score punctuates the rhythm like a broken metronome, pushing and pacing the stage action. This, in front of a metallic, cage-like set, is visually very striking, creating tableaux after tableaux, driving us away from naturalism and into other, more lucid, realms of thought.
There are some inaudible lines, a shame for such a strong text, but ultimately, this ingenious piece asks us what we think progress is, and why we feel we need it. It also asks about spirituality in a profoundly self- reflexive world, and queries individualism against collective beliefs. It never preaches, but provokes, and set off by a universally splendid cast, should be a very hot ticket. (Steve Cramer)
I Assembly Rooms, 226 2428, untr/ 29 Aug (not I7 Aug), 72. I 5pm, F. 73—E I4 (F I3~-f‘ 72).