Theatre
FAMISHED
Night of the singing zombies
.0
ln Ills l‘iarritrie’ticip Hi ’,a:, as our heroine awa 1', the gate ",«tzim 0‘ “er lover from some fara and. singing/darir,ir ’5 ."/"i:, es "ii‘. Victorian London.
While some of the script of this piece (which has tie air «if 'i "gh sel’iooi play about it) rna, have been funny. it you sit further back than the front row you'll never won. as the overly loud musical ar/xinipanirnent and iriadeguate INIltllIéIIlOll prevent much of it from being heard. While it may be a corned, there's no excuse for singing that s liable to make cu glad of excess earwax build-up. This reviewer can only asswne that, unless those surrounding her in the auditorium had Joined the legiOris of the undead. some people appeared to find this play hilariously funny. so go if you must but don't say that yOu haven't been warned.
(Nicola Husband) I C, 0845 260 7234, MM 27Aug, 9pm, $8.504? 10.50 leSO—L‘QSO).
DAI (ENOUGH)
An array of voices before the blast .0.
As daily reports of suiCide bombings in the Middle East flood into Our homes. it‘s impossble not to be desensmsed. Figures substitute names, as personal stories take a backseat in favour of a delivery of the death toll. However. lris Bahr's one woman show sets about giVing v0ices to the numbers.
As a TV reporter gathers interVIew footage in a bustling cafe in Tel AViv where Israelis, Palestinians and expats drink together in relative harmony. the conflict is never far away. Tackling issues such as tradition versus the desire to westernise Israel, the internal
conflict seems to take precedent over its exterior political one. Only one Palestinian mice is heard in the form of a professor who expresses Suppon for the Israelis. giving the play a slightly one-sided feel. It's not all doom and gloom, as experienced stand-up comedian Bahr Creates an array of Outlandish characters including a gay German deSigner and a RuSSIan prostitute With ease. As the script fails to push hard enough at the big issues. it‘s her performance that makes this one w0rth the watch.
(Nicola Husbandl
I Pleasance Col/rtyard. 556 6550. mm 27 Aug (not Mi, me, 28—29 (£6.50—£7.50i
KILLER JOE Video nasty for the stage 00
Sumerians aci'ig serious theatre Is a 5" gr: stape these 1a, s. t'i-s .ear.
tr 4;, ve "10:90 from c "en‘ia adaptations to filn‘iic piays Still. T'aCy Letts' script. in which an impoverished. lazily-drawn tra. e' park fan it, strike a Faustian pact mth local deiii— n-a-stetson Killer Joe Cooper. is an awkward Choice. There are some fine dramatic performances here — the eve-excellent Lizzie Roper makes the rnost of not very much at all, and Tony Law fairiy Crackles wrth calm menace as the eponymous moralismg psychopath What's absent. weirdly. is
Aiming High 0000
THE LAST SOUTH: PURSUIT OF THE POLE
coniic timing. As the tension racks of». the SOrely-needed Jokes lust fall flat
Between 1910 and 1912 two competing teams, one British one Norwegian, set out to become the first men to reach the South Pole. Only one managed to return home to tell the tale. Constructed from the diaries kept by the British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his Norwegian counterpart Roald Amundsen, this play documents the motions of elation and despair the two men endure as they battle through the elements, always aware that the other could be only a few miles in front or behind. The same lust for conquest may be driving the ambitions of the two men but here they are presented as raging opposites. Scott (Adrian Lukis), is bookish and meticulous, listing his inventory and boasting of his lectures
as he writes in his diary. In the final stages before the start of an expedition
that took more than six years of planning and research, he reveals his
disdain for his younger, brasher rival, clearly worried despite his arrogance that Amundsen’s youth and vigour might present an obstacle to his triumph
that his wisdom cannot overcome.
Having received a staggering four consecutive Fringe First awards in a row back in the late 19805 director Rob Mulholand will certainly be subject to high expectations with his first return to the Fringe in over 15 years. Yet while many years may have passed his skill has certainly not diminished during his prolonged Edinburgh hiatus. The play, adapted by the American
playwright GM Calhoun, is an agile work, excellently acted by its leads that
through delicate pacing draws the audience into their world of frost bite, dead huskies and the unimaginable bleakness of being thousands of miles away from home trekking through the most inhospitable environment on
earth. (Miles Johnson)
I P/easance Cowtyaro’, 556 6550. anti/27 Aug (not 8. 75/, 7. 70pm, ESQ-£70
(58—29).
74 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 9-16 Aug 2007
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FORGOTTEN VOICES
Great War memories 00..
The idea that war can be gIOrious has long since been purged. and yet the lessons of the past seem not to have been learned. For over ninety years now. WOrld War One should have been used as an example of the human cost of COnflict, yet wars continue still, and the voices of the past he unrernenibered by man).
Based on Max Arthur's collection of World War One testimonies, Malcolm McKa, '5 excellent stage adaptation seem foiir war veterans and a .‘wnale CiViliaii survivor (Belinda Lang re<,oiiritirig their tragir, tales at the liriperial War Museum The view of the war differs depending on each point of VIEW, ranging from Private Harris (Matthew Kelly) to Captain Newton iRupert Frazer), all combining to form a moving narrative
McKay's simple and engaging direction allows the seemingly timeless original words to convey all the emotion of those who feught in, or lost someone to. the Great War. Seamless intemeawng of the separate acc0urits provides a stirring and frank account of the maJOr events of the war; from signing up. to the unofficial Christmas armistice. through the battle of the Somme. to the mud of Flanders. Charmineg warm humour from the compelling Matthew Kelly provides a little relief from the many poignant and i emotional moments Suppiied by the impresswe cast. as the Jery real . human cost of all such wars is driven home by the words of those left behind. (DaVId Laing; I Assembly©George St, 623 3030, MM 27 Aug (not 7, 74/, 72.00pm, 27250-275.