list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE
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WASTED Small cast pose big questions about sexual consent ●●●●● ABACUS Compelling TED-style lecture that’s not so much of a parody as it first seems ●●●●●
POLE The clothed truth about exotic dancing ●●●●●
Set within a 24-hour time period, Wasted follows the story of Emma and Oli, young adults who meet on a night out, exploring the repercussions of their drunken one-night stand and the nature of consent. The problem of opening a two-person show with a busy nightclub scene is cleverly conquered by the pair playing bouncers, who gather the audience on the dancefloor (stage) until the club ‘shuts’ and we’re allowed into the roped-off VIP area (the seating). The duo skilfully shift between a multitude of characters. Their gender-swapping portrayal of each others’ best friends are particularly funny. Staging is minimal, black clothes, no props and only two tables for a set, allowing for the scripts frequent scene changes and flashbacks.
The main characters are highly relatable, as is the formula of a night out – losing each other in the club, drunken voice mails, no-nonsense bouncers. This familiarity and the decision not to portray Oli as aggressive, calculating or other characteristics associated with a rapist stereotype make for uncomfortable watching as the audience are forced to decide where the capacity to consent stops and sex becomes rape. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Gilded Balloon, 622 6552, until 31 Aug (not 18), 12.15pm, £10–£11.
Both visionary and charlatan, public intellectual Paul Abacus is a passionate, hugely charismatic figure. And in this TED-style presentation, accompanied by groovy digital graphics on giant video screens, he lectures us on everything from dissolving national borders to why there are many more colours than those we normally see, from the evolutionary advantages of altruism to breakfast cereal consumption in the US.
But though it pushes credulity to the limit, and at times treads dangerously close to the messianic or the fascistic, the stroke of genius in LA-based Early Morning Opera’s compelling show is just how persuasive it is. Abacus – performed with just the right nonchalant swagger by Sonny Valicenti – is a parody of the cool young intellectual, but a lot of what he says is searingly perceptive. His dissection of how nations are nothing more than artificial constructs of trade and colonialism is fascinating. EMO have created a provocative satire on high-
tech multimedia presentations and the allure of big ideas for the future of society. It’s a superb piece of theatre for the mind, but one that also manages to be seductively entertaining. (David Kettle) ■ Summerhall, 560 1581, until 30 Aug (not 18, 25), 6.10pm, £15.
In the past few years, there have been many performances that explore the world of the erotic dancer: autobiographical, scripted or, in the case of The Illicit Thrill, a recreation of the club atmosphere that implicates the audience. Yet by using a verbatim process, Pole avoids the predictable excesses of some productions, presenting a more honest and varied appreciation.
With characters drawn from outside the club scene – a teacher, a fitness fanatic, alongside an activist and a stripper – the emphasis is on pole dancing as a socially acceptable activity: the dance interludes are more spectacular than sexy, with acrobatic skill replacing titillation. While the script does not flinch from the associations with striptease, the measured pace makes the action a call for acceptance. The mixture of dance routines and speeches
to the audience lend Pole the atmosphere of an illustrated documentary. Questions are posed, the pace is gentle and there is less provocation – either political or sexual – and more cool summary of the positives of keep fit and confidence-boosting activity with a brief look into the more unsavoury aspects. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Underbelly Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 30 Aug (not 17), midnight, £9–£10 (£8–£9).
FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT Bryony Kimmings’ personal collaboration tackling her partner’s depression ●●●●●
You never quite know which particular Bryony Kimmings you’re going to get with each show. The hedonistic drunk of yore? Bawdy singer of songs about her lady parts? Facets of live artist Kimmings’ true character are stripped back with every show, as raw as a skinned knee – whether vulnerable, cocky or just plain foolhardy – always reining it in when it gets too sentimental. This time, however, she has teamed up with real life partner Tim Grayburn to create a show which scrutinises mental health problems, based on Grayburn’s own struggles with depression, and it’s as though she’s sharing a real-life diary with everyone. In this time of overshare, it would be easy to do that. But Bryony and Tim do it their way – at times, they are explorers, mapping Tim’s depression, which he only recently came to terms with; at others, a live art Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, all call and response songs and sexy pastiches of R&B dancing.
Beneath the typically Kimmings makeshift masks, which
Grayburn wears for most of the show, there are testimonies of Grayburn’s struggle with his extreme lows and Kimmings’ paranoia when he is away. Compounding this is the fact that she is pregnant with their first child. But the pair stand proud, clutching reductive gender symbols – whisk and hammer. The parody of Bob Dylan’s video for ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’, with Kimmings holding up placards listing symptoms, is a sharp example of how the duo defy stereotypes with mischief, using humour as a coping mechanism. The result is melancholic, playful, tentatively hopeful – and you
may hug your friends and loved ones that little bit tighter for seeing it. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, 228 1404, until 30 Aug (not 17, 24), times vary, £18 (£8–£13).
13–20 Aug 2015 THE LIST FESTIVAL 85