F E S T I VA L T H E AT R E | Reviews
A HOLY SHOW Gloriously comic and unexpectedly thoughtful ●●●●● A comic play about a flight from Dublin to London which is hijacked by a short-tempered Australian ex-monk who demands that the Pope tell him the Third Secret of Fatima sounds like cheerful fluff, tapping into time-honoured Irish comedy tropes. The glorious twist of A Holy Show, written and directed with immense brio by Janet Moran, is that Aer Lingus Flight 164 was a real thing.
It’s an iconic image: 11 men sit atop a girder, hundreds of metres above the New York skyline, calmly eating lunch in the 1930s. But what’s really going on here? Can we really take this at face value? According to the nervy, suspicious trio in Barrel Organ Theatre’s Conspiracy, the photo points to a massive global cover-up, bringing in (naturally) JFK, Elvis, Michael Jackson, the moon landings and even the death of Princess Diana.
Clever, economy-class staging whisks the There’s a lot of fun to be had in the far-fetched
audience back to 1981, when smoking on planes was allowed and booze was free. Caitriona Ennis and Patrick Moy effortlessly inhabit a surprisingly large range of characters: a pair of bitchy stewardesses, a golf-obsessed yuppie and his seething personal assistant, two discontented newlyweds, a new grandmother and her unmarried sister. A device that tracks their seat numbers helps the audience keep track of who’s who, but Ennis and Moy are so good that it’s almost superfluous. Trimmed down to a tight 60 minutes from its original production, it’s funny, wise and expertly performed. Like Flight 164 itself, it carries you off to places you didn’t think it would go. (Alex Johnston) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 3pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).
opening investigations of Jack Perkins’ dark comedy, especially from the awkward grimaces of the trio’s ringleader Rose Wardlaw and her obsessive mistrust of even the tiniest details. But halfway through, things suddenly move into stranger and far less convincing territory, as though Perkins isn’t sure of where to take his material next. There’s plenty left unanswered, probably intentionally. Who are these three people and what does the mystifying but elaborate closing sequence signify?
Conspiracy offers plenty of laughs but it shies away from digging deeper into the troubling issues behind cover-up theories, and the reasons why many choose to believe them. (David Kettle) n Underbelly Cowgate, until 25 Aug, 4.45pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).
90 THE LIST FESTIVAL 14–26 Aug 2019
ARE WE NOT DRAWN ONWARD TO NEW ERA Technically dazzling, emotionally devastating work ●●●●●
Provocative, pioneering Flemish theatre company Ontroerend Goed have baited and outraged audiences with previous Fringe shows, made us gamble our cash, offered intimate one-on-one experiences, and three years ago gazed aeons into the future to a time when humankind has long vanished from the Earth. This year, they again consider our relationship with the planet in what might appear a more conventional show. But Are we not drawn . . . is a technically dazzling, emotionally devastating work that marries form and content to revelatory effect.
A bare stage, an apple tree, a man and a woman: there’s no
question where it begins. But as its title suggests, the show is a palindrome, so, are we going to end up back where we started? What Ontroerend Goed attempt is quietly breathtaking: an uncompromising examination of human progress and environmental destruction, an interrogation of time, and a deeply troubling questioning of whether we really can achieve what we surely need to achieve. All in a show full of wit and wonder. And if you’re planning to see it – and you really should – stop reading now. For experiencing Are we not drawn to a new erA’s high-precision
mechanisms unfolding in front of you, and the slow realisation of what’s actually happening (and therefore what’s yet to come), are some of the show’s many pleasures. Using reversed speech that sounds like something from Twin Peaks’ sinister Red Room, OG’s six actors gradually transform the stage into a nightmarish microcosm of contemporary western life.
Are we not drawn . . . is a playful, ambiguous work, whose ultimate message could be joyfully optimistic or deeply despairing – and is probably both. It’s vitally important theatre that that never preaches, yet reveals possibilities, fears and hopes. (David Kettle) n ZOO Southside, until 25 Aug (not 19), 11am, £14 (£12).
CONSPIRACY Comedy on outlandish cover-up theories ●●●●● TERRATORY A deeper look at racism and our roots ●●●●●
In the face of growing nationalism and racism, this production from Nicholsons Upstage demonstrates eloquently why no race is superior to another, and why we might all share more common ancestors than we know. Spanning today and the 15th century, TERRAtory is determinedly internationalist and inclusive. The play opens with the protagonist Emma
receiving the results of her genealogical DNA test. To her delight she discovers that she isn't 100% English, but has links on the other side of the world. This, alongside a discovery of colonial documents in her gran’s attic, leads her to research her ancestry and to question her friend’s attitude to immigrants. TERRAtory proposes a makeshift study of global inter-relationships. While the characters and some of the dialogue are over-simplified, the plot moves at a good pace. Some scenes from the past are stilted compared to the wry banter of Emma and her best friend, but the commitment of all eight actors to telling such an important story is admirable. A special mention must go to the colonialist Captain Gonzalo; he’s so convincingly morally repulsive, it’s difficult to watch. (Clare McVay) n Greenside @ Nicolson Square, until 17 Aug, 3pm, £10 (£8).