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It’s also a chance for the 27-year-old to showcase his more mature writing. He says: ‘Since Love, Sex and Cider, my style has developed. I’ve kept the comedy but it’s much darker. Crush is a very emotionally affecting piece – there’s a very gutting ending.’ In addition, Charlton is contributing
to comedy sketch show G3: The Ginge, The Geordie and The Geek this year, so his long-awaited Edinburgh comeback looks certain to be an exciting one. ‘I’ll be knackered at the end of it,’ he admits, ‘but it’s worth it.’ (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ Underbelly, 08445 458 252, 8–30 Aug (not 19), 5pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 6 & 7 Aug, £6.
MY GRANDFATHER’S GREAT WAR First-hand account of the First World War
The epithet ‘those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ must seem particularly prescient to Cameron Stewart. The actor is starring in a piece of documentary theatre taken, like many other big Fringe shows over the last few years, from a first-hand account of war written by a young soldier. The war in question, though, happened almost 100 years ago.
‘My grandfather’s First World War diaries had been sitting on family bookshelves for 80 years,’ he says. ‘My uncle had tried to get them published, but had had no success. He was despondent, because Grandpa’s story was an astonishing one.’
Captain Alexander Stewart was the only officer of his intake to survive the Somme. His grandson’s show contrasts his frank descriptions of trench life – and death – with contemporary notions about war and patriotism. ‘The play is intended to stimulate
people to think about the values that drive societies to wage war, and individuals to take part. I have immense admiration for my grandfather, but the whole concept of war seems to me abhorrent.’ (Kirstin Innes) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 8–16 Aug, 1.15pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).
EAST 10TH STREET One-man portrait of old New York with a motley supporting cast Edgar Oliver has had enough nightmare neighbours to write the script. So, with typical New York gumption, that’s exactly what he did. The result is East 10th Street: Self
Portrait with Empty House, a humorous, fantastical portrait of his life, lived in a rooming house among a motley crew of lunatics, criminals, transvestite prostitutes, ghosts, a dwarf cabalist and a Nazi in hiding. It all began several decades ago
when Oliver, a wide-eyed writer from Georgia, arrived in New York City. ‘I was walking through the East Village when a gnarled hand put an advert in a window which said “Room for Rent”,’ says Oliver, who today is sitting in that very same one-room apartment.
Despite death threats and several
serious attempts on his life, he stayed put. ‘One by one the neighbours were carted off to insane asylums and old people’s homes so that it’s just me left in the building,’ says Oliver. At its heart the piece, which comes
direct from a sell-out off-Broadway run, is a portrait of old New York, before Zero Tolerance and gentrification, and the life of one of its most colourful, beloved inhabitants. ‘It was never dull around here,’ says Oliver wistfully. (Claire Prentice) ■ Traverse Theatre, 228 1404, 7–16 & 24 Aug (not 10), times vary, £14–£16 (£10–£11). Preview 6 Aug, £10 (£5).
DON QUIXOTE – THEATRE OF THE BLIND Don your blindfolds and experience Cervantes’ classic about seeing
At first glance, it’s a simple trick, performing Cervantes’ classic to a blindfolded audience. But as the show’s originator Charlie Ward points out, his blacked-out Don Quixote is no gimmicky scratch-and-sniff sensory experience.
‘This is an attempt to get away from that,’ Ward says. ‘We are aiming for something a lot more nuanced. Like when you read a novel, the way that you imagine things is particular to you and it’s richer than what you see on the conventional stage. Theatre of the Blind forces you to use your imagination and that’s a completely
Festival Theatre
MERCY MADONNA OF MALAWI Adopting a view of the Material Girl
It’s reasonable to assume Robert Magasa never expected to land his latest stage role. He is tall, male and black and speaks with a distinct Malawian accent, characteristics that should disqualify him from playing Madonna, a pop star famous for being short, female, white and American. But in a move director Toby Gough calls ‘a reverse Black and White Minstrel Show’, it only takes a blonde wig, some face powder and a pointy bra for Magasa to make the transition. ‘It feels good to be a woman sometimes,’ laughs the actor when I meet
him in Blantyre during rehearsals.
‘I don’t like to be in a dress – but I enjoy it.’ Putting an African spin on the story of four-year-old Mercy James who
was adopted by the original Material Girl earlier this year, Mercy Madonna of Malawi is an upbeat musical that takes stock of a world in which a global superstar and a developing nation can find common ground. Without taking sides, it asks whether it is right for a child to be taken away from her culture if it means enjoying a life of privilege. ‘Everyone thinks this is the most relevant, modern, Malawian, sensitive, dangerous and hilarious play,’ says Gough. ‘Theatre is all about conflict and this has got so much argument and debate within it.’ Many Malawians are in favour of Madonna’s actions, but for Magasa the
adoption of Mercy – and earlier David Banda – is a double-edged sword. ‘It’s good and bad,’ says the actor. ‘Good in the sense that she wants to help Mercy and she’s seen David’s life has been fine there. But bad because it would be easier just to fund the orphanages that are here. That would be better because the babies would be closer to their culture.’ (Mark Fisher) ■ St George’s West, 07761 716 929, 7–31 Aug, 3pm, £12 (£10). Preview 6 Aug, £10 (£8).
different theatre. It’s distinct from radio plays, because your physical presence is essential to the way we perform the play.’ Why Don Quixote? ‘It’s a novel
about seeing,’ says Ward. ‘There’s a medical condition called visual agnosia, which causes people to see things in different ways. Don Quixote’s madness is rooted in the way he sees
the world, a heathen hoard instead of a flock of sheep, for example. And in Theatre of the Blind the audience relies on what he says to build a picture of things. So it works very well with the subject matter. (Miles Fielder) ■ The Bongo Club, 557 2827, 7–22 Aug (not 9, 16), 2.05pm, £10 (£7). Previews until 6 Aug, £4.
6–13 Aug 2009 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 65