list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE
P H O T O
:
A L E X B R E N N E R
P H O T O :
I
S D S C O T T
STARDUST Provocative expose of narco reality ●●●●● CORIOLANUS VANISHES Powerful play changes gender ●●●●●
DYSNEY DISFUNCTION Surprising depth in powerful conclusion ●●●●●
Stardust is an unflinching look at the narcotics history of Colombia, created with an international team of artists and performed by Columbian actor and theatre-maker Miguel Hernando Torres Umba. Co-written with Daniel Dingsdale, the play is a tour de force of disciplines with beautiful hand-drawn animations, physical theatre and verbatim stories used to communicate the complex realities of the narcotics trade.
Umba is a passionate and versatile performer, giving a quick fire history of the drug and busting some dynamite dance moves as a voiceover explains what cocaine does to the body. He becomes the host of game show, 'Plata o Plomo', where the audience weighs in with whether we would use money or guns to move up the drug chain and plays up to the stereotype of a Colombian perpetrated by TV shows like Netflix’s Narcos. There's weighty research evident behind this educating, provocative and irreverent expose. It shows that cocaine is a problem for the world, not just Colombia – and while Miguel laments that he doesn’t have an answer, Stardust has at least started the conversation. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20), 4.20pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50).
In David Leddy's striking meditation on power and abuses of power, Irene Allan takes on the role of Chris. It's fascinating to see as a standalone piece, and works just as well as the first version starring Leddy himself. Where Leddy's portrayal was inscrutable, Allan conjures Chris as sweet and twinkly-eyed, making her descent into psychopathy the more jarring. She's a feral creature. From the belt of her father, to a justification of arms deals to Saudi Arabia, or a lover's bite marks, totemic lashes are deployed in the boardroom and the bedroom: Chris makes little distinction between pleasure and business.
Such capricious mood swings are signalled by
Danny Krass' sounds, crackling in the air like a lightning bolt. As Chris drip feeds the information into how it was she came to lie, cheat and kill, Becky Minto's design and Nich Smith's neon lights shower the room in beautiful and disturbing primary colours. Symbols of romance are eroticised: cherry blossom rains down, and strewn rose petals from a pillowcase become props in a dangerous game of seduction. Chris' nihilism may seem fantastical, but it is rooted in real pain. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).
Alice faces a return to Sydney, Australia. It’s not her home anymore, and Dysney Dysfunction – for the most part – ponders whether her very own prince can save her from that fate. It’s a neat juxtaposition; as a child she watched (and related to) Ariel, Jasmine and Snow White. As an adult, marriage is closer to an economic necessity than anything else: an action based in pragmatism as well as love. The first half of this show is hard work. More than
anything, what Dysney Disfunction does well is convey the roller coaster feeling of being in a turbulent relationship. Alice (portrayed by the show's writer Michelle Sewell) delivers her lines at breakneck speed and the effect is dizzying: some strong lines have no room to breathe. VCR footage of therapy sessions provide a calming counterpoint, though it speeds and slows in a stilted, unsettling manner. Dysney Dysfunction concludes with a revelation of childhood trauma and the clear message that coping and living with abuse requires the sort of salvation that a prince (or a visa for another country) can't provide alone. It requires self-love. It's a powerful ending and one that makes this a show worth seeing. (Craig Angus) ■ Assembly Rooms, until 25 Aug (not 14), 3.40pm, £10–£11 (£8–£9).
PROXY A mother and daughter’s deadly struggle in post-Katrina USA ●●●●●
Directed by Colin Watkeys and written and performed by Caroline Burns Cooke, Proxy is a one-woman show based on a true story that tells of a mother and daughter struggling to survive in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Dee Dee is an ex-beauty queen whose daughter Gypsy
suffers from all manner of ailments. They are regular benefactors of charities, including the Ronald McDonald charity and Disney’s Make A Wish Foundation. But the reality is that the worst thing afflicting Gypsy is her mother, and as the nature of the parent-daughter relationship is uncoiled, Proxy leads the audience unflinchingly towards the darkest of conclusions. The show starts and ends with ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’,
the song from Disney’s Pinocchio. As with the recent film The Florida Project, Proxy derives considerable power from tapping into the way that grim social realities fall short of the Disney dream, and how the yawning charm between harsh actuality and cartoon fantasy can be impossible to bridge. To capture this, Burns Cooke gives a strong, meaty turn as the various characters; while nodding towards various wicked step-mothers, she manages to locate the pulse of the women involved without resorting to caricature.
With warnings about intensity and darkness, Proxy is a good example of how a show can make limited resources go a long way; it’s not easy conjuring tragedy from a bare stage with only a few lighting changes, but Proxy manages to spin a heart-wrenching yarn, riddled with genuine pathos. (Eddie Harrison) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 13), 11am, £8–£9 (£5.50–£7.50).
8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 91