Theatre
www.|ist.co.uk/theatre
I FREE OUTGOING . True-life tale explores India’s 3 traditional attitudes to sex
The play. which was inspired by their plight. depicts an entertainer recalling the last century of his country's histOry. from colonial rule through to the crimes perpetrated by the current regime. Constantly updated during its ten- year run to include recent events. the new inclusion of the recent brutality unleashed by Burma's military junta on its population provides a stark I reminder of the continuing situation in j the country as it slips further from the ' news agenda. The play's arrival in Edinburgh also comes soon after one of the Moustache Brothers. U Par Par Lay, was rearrested and imprisoned for six weeks during last year's protests. (Miles Johnson) I St John '3 Church, 229 7565, 4—70 = Aug, 4pm, £8 (£5).
DIRT Sensitive inquiry into what it means to be an outsider
It was a real-life incident that prompted Chennai—based playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar to write Free Outgoing. which depicts a country's anger when an Indian schoolgirl is filmed with a boy in her classroom. 'I heard the girl's family migrated. although I‘m not sure.’ says Chandrasekhar. ‘I wanted to write I what would happen if that escape route was closed.’ Set in the conservative southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. the play I describes how the family battles the pandemonium from inside their home. . The girl. Deepa. is locked in her room,
THE BIRD & THE BEE
Powerful double bill tells tales of star-crossed lovers
l The young, it is sometimes said, are society’s canaries in the mine, the first and doesn't come out for the entire
to sense when something has gone awry. Few could have failed to be moved by the strange and tragic events at Bridgend in Wales, where, in the months to June this year, 22 teenagers took their own lives in what are thought to be suicide pacts. The Bird & The Bee, 3 new double bill from Kandinsky, one of the most exciting young companies to bring work to Edinburgh in recent years, powerfully examines how young lives become bereft of all hope.
‘I sat down with Matt Hartley, who wrote the other half of the production, and we were talking about what we wanted to do for the Fringe,’ says Al Smith, writer of The Bird. ‘We were reading through a newspaper and on one side there was a piece about the teenage suicides at Bridgend. On the other side was a piece about Colony Collapse Disorder, which is when all these bees up and leave their colonies and die by their hundreds of } thousands. It made us think about the social rot that is seeping through 5 our system, one that young people seem to be especially sensitive to, and
play. ‘It's not her story I want to tell,’ says Chandrasekhar. ‘It's her mother's journey. her brother's journey.’ Instead. Chandrasekhar focuses on how the family copes with reporters beating at their door and the video clip appearing on the net. While this is the prolific Chandrasekhar's first play to be , performed in Britain. it's not likely that Free Outgoing will be performed in her . home country. As she points out. the play focuses on the disparity between India's technological advances and traditional attitudes towards sex. ‘India is the IT capital of the world yet it has sexual double standards.‘ she says. ‘This is what makes me write.’ (Theresa Munoz) I Traverse Theatre, 228 7404, 7 -24 Aug (not 77, 78), times vary, $74—27 6 (HO—£7 7). Preview 37 Jul, £70 (£5).
THE BURMA PLAY - A
COMEDY OF TERROR
Burma's political nightmare, from colonial times to the present day
From the United States comes Dirt. a
contemplative monologue that
addresses racism. Originally written in
. German, Dirt tells the story of a 30- year-old Iraqi man who is grateful to live (albeit illegally) in an English- speaking city. Selling roses on the
v street. he struggles with his love for the English language and his resentment towards the men who buy his flowers but don‘t show him respect.
Austrian-American actor Christopher
Domig brings depth and intensity to
the character of Sad. who hides the
fact that his full name is Saddam. In a 70-minute monologue. Domig deconstructs Sad's self-image — he is careful of what he says and does, he believes park benches are not for
. immigrants like him, and he wishes others would listen to his stay.
With sold out shows and glowing
reviews for Domig‘s performance
across the pond. Dirt is sure to leave a
mark. Domig's ultimate wish. however, is that audiences walk away thinking
. about Sad. ‘His story is not black and white, it's complex,‘ he insists. ‘I hope people will think about their own prejudices towards others and recognise that we all, at one time or
i the comparisons that could be made between these bees and the young
j suicides.’
| While the two pieces are linked in theme and concept, they also function
i as stand alone works. ‘We thought we would do two plays about what drives people to take their own lives, about the rot that is forcing their own
1 hands, but each write around a separate character for separate pieces,’
E says Smith. ‘But both are surprisingly funny - which is good as they could
have ended up as the most gloomy and doomy things.’
i Potential gloom aside, Kandisky look set to continue producing some of the most powerful new writing on the Fringe. (Miles Johnson)
i I Underbelly. 0844 545 8252, 3—24 Aug (not 7 3), 2. 75pm (T he Bee), 5.40pm
j (The Bird), EQ—E 70.50 (28—89). Previews 37 Jul—7 Aug, E6.
, I The Fringe may be brimming with
: comedians cracking gags at the
3 LIE OF THE LAND expense of politicians, but it would be
. , , , , of the earth. It‘s become a kind of 13:33} Egg: 2:r&:%$%gef'nds 'ts Adam and Eve play: they are at the ‘ fair to presume that few, if any, have __ -__,-__ _. .. ._ _ _- . end of the world. as opposed to the tried out their material under the watch of a police state.
start. It becomes an apocalyptic vision The Burma Play, however. was
of the world.‘
While Betts won a CATS award for inspired by precisely such an event. In The Unconquered, his fierce. 1996. two Burmese comedians known heightened poetic style. which also as the Moustache Brothers were
permeates Lie of the Land. may sit
Many of us dream of a simpler existence in the countryside. but the sudden lack of people can be a shock to the system. Inspired by the personal nightmare that followed his own relocation from London, Torben Betts'
i sentenced to six years imprisonment
new play explores that sense of loneliness. 'l was living in the middle of a field. basically, with my wife and children. That was the inspiration: two people cast out of a city. to the ends
more easily in the experimental climate of the Fringe. compared to the stubbornly naturalistic realm of the larger theatres. ‘In most professions getting an award would help you, but the theatre establishment either doesn't like me or doesn't approve. I'm much more likely to get commissions if I'm writing naturalistic work.’ Betts' shocking and challenging
. poetry will always have a home at the
Fringe. (Sarah Redhead) I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 3—24 Aug (not 77), 72.30pm,
- $850—$950 (27—28). Previews uni/72 Aug, E5.
68 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 31 Jul—7 Aug 2008
for criticising the country's ruling military junta. being released only after a lengthy campaign by the imprisoned ‘ Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and Amnesty International.
another, have been “the outsider".'
(T heresa Munoz)
I Gilded Balloon Teviot, 668 7633. 3-7 7 Aug. 72. 75pm, 28—69 (57—58). Previews until 2 Aug, £5.