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Kirstin Innes looks at how two Fringe plays have translated the lonely world of online chatrooms for the stage
E . . ecent Pixar smash Wall-11' imagines a future in which lumpen humans only engage with each other through The Six Wives 0f Timothy Leary computer screens. Worryineg. this seems all explores the 19605 counterculture [00 plausith a prospect. icon from the per§pe°tfve Of the ()nline interaction and social networking womef‘ Who mm?“ mm’ as are two of this year‘s Fringe hot topics. A'aSta'r Mabbon d'scovers There‘s the predictable slew of comedy shows Timothy Leary's place in history has with titles punning on Facebook and
long been assured. Atireless MySpace. but. more intriguing are several DFODOhehi Of LSD. he ehhaheed hi8 theatre shows dealing with this static medium. ' notoriety With a darihg DhSOh escape As love. sex and basic human interaction — the i ‘ ahd life as a fUQlIiVe before reCOVehhg lifeblood of drama — are increasingly conducted
some Of his glory '” the tecmo'pagan online. in non-physical worlds. where does this 9315‘ I j I I leave live theatre‘.’ .Olyvéqod :r'tetrs hive 82999 ed m Australian actor Ash Flanders. appearing this year | l' l‘ l ll . -
van 0 mg 5 S OW oau .8 C83 in one-man show I Love You. Bro. based on the true
Perhaps Leary was too multi-faceted _ . . . . _ _ _ . story of a suicidal teenager who becomes obsessed to be portrayed on Stage or screen with 'l bot he me ‘ts in 'igch'itroom ex lains how his But that very problem seems to have ‘ v)“ 'I d ’ ‘ T t. ‘1 t ‘I. ' .Wh ‘ been the key to the success of The company cica c rama rom s a 1c in crac ion. en Six Wives of Timothy Leary Writte” by we decided we wanted to adapt the story. we thought. firsthme playwright phmp de Gouveia “How on earth do you translate that to the stage?” Our the play ShOWS the acid guru at set‘s very minimal — just me. in a hoody. on a computer different points in his me from the chair. and we project these basic. colourful. text-based images onto the stage that
perspectives of the six women he married. ‘ON highlight this pretend fantasy
While the Leary each one world my character. Johnny, is remembers is guite different. there living in. We didn‘t want the were consistencies running through audience to just be looking at a
his life. 83 de Geuveia explaihS- ‘Oh pretend computer screen; our
the one hand. he was very charismatic design is more abstract than and he loved people. He really wanted that. with ShapCS and to aCh'eve andhto be S'gn'f'ca'lt' Al the pixels that remind you that Johnny‘s world is not 31:21:“?18 as 8 gas preaclh'Tg the necessarily based in reality.‘ 0 ego _ an 9‘?”“”‘ey OV'ng Flanders understands the attraction of a make-believe people and sort of trying to be - , . ,
. . _ . online world. On the web you can be anyone. You can
altrurstic in what he did — he was also . . . be the wittiest person in the room. you can be the
incredibly egotistical, very selfish and . . . . treated a lot of the people around him sexiest person in the room. and that s the currency of I
quite badly. Love You. 13m: it's pure intellect on the web. The .These women were defined by physical just doesn't matter.’
Timothy Leary! but he actually ehabled At the other end of the theatrical spectrum is The
them as well" adds director Timothy Arli'witim’s of Burr Boy and 'Ii'ggcr. a comedy about
Hughes, ‘They were thinkers in their two gay men who use the safety of online anonymity to own right: Strong, independent explore their sexual fantasies.
women who were then attracted to ‘We are all looking for different ways to connect with the Leary Way of being' people.‘ says writer/director Steven Dawson (also an
The play touches on the Aussie). who came up with the idea for the play after a complexities Of a man Whose father couple of his friends had tried online cruising sites. left home Wheh Leafy W88 11» ahd with varying degrees of success. ‘Online we decide Whose OYerbear'”9 mome’ had huge how we want to paint our pictures and leave the viewer VOVEVZZrIZ‘Spr-‘igga'ffgjlfié‘i’rs to decide whether they like what they see. It offers thepiece was the easiest part of the process: graphic experiences and moving on. More freedom. When I finished writing the tirst scene of the actions played up to such an extreme level that it important than why Leary couldn.t play l was amazed at vast amount of pomography I becomes very comic. says.Dawson. Once the sustain relationships says de had put down on paper. . . characters move away from their desks to play out the
The major problem inherent in plays about online - scenarios. the play becomes pure X-rated storytelling!
Gouviea. is ‘how you can be in love 1 . . . . and also why love can fail. But why its IL ationships is how to convey the action — conducted
so important to keep lOOking,’ in text — to an audience. Because Dawson‘s characters. Adventures of Butt Boy and Tigger, Pleasance I The S/X Wives Of mnemy Leary Butt Boy (aka Jamie) and Tigger (Matt). engage with Dome, 556 6550, 2—25 Aug (not 12, 19), p/easance Dome, 555 5550, 3-24 the extremities of each others‘ fantasies. he decided to 10.50pm, £7.50—£8.50 (£6427). Previews until 1 Aug (nor 1], 79), 5pm, £8-59 exaggerate their movements. As the wild. extreme sex Aug, £5; I Love You, Bro, Pleasance Dome, 556 (£6,50.£7,50). Previews 37 Jul—2 they have exists only in their heads. it actually leads to 6550, 2—25 Aug (not 12, 19), 2.25pm, £8—£9 Aug, £5. more outlandish physical action. ‘The physicalin of (51650—2750). Previews until 1 Aug, £5.
60 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 131 Jul—7 Aug 2008