THE LIST
" Guesr usr —
otthetirstScottishtoursby ; humouryouhave.0l
these majorartistsfrom Africa. From Glasgow‘s Mayfestto Edinburgh (see listings) and asfarnorth as Sutherland and Stornoway. audiencesinthe cityvenues and village halls willbe thrilled by Fatala‘s colourful. percussive vocals anddance routines: mesmerised by virtuosoJali Musa‘sgroup. who singand play music based onthe circularrhythms ofthe kora. asparkling multistringed harp-gourd. see photo: and captured bythe vibrant. emotional charge in the voice and guitarofAli Farka. who has giventhe bluesbackto its ancestral homeland. With Soweto's Amampondo. who area pan-African riotolmusical colourand energyitis obviousthatthe Dark Continentisgoingtolight up Mayfest.
Fatalatst. 2nd May.Jali Musa Jawara 3rd May. Ali Farka Toure 10th May. Amampondo 2nd—5th. 9th—11th. 13th. 14th;and at Govan 6th. 7th. 15th. (See Mayfest)
Edinburgh: Fatala 30th. Ali Farka. 9th.
CARY ELWES
Aboutfifteen years ago. Oscar-winning writer William Goldman adapted his bookThe Princess Bride lorthe big screen. Acomic fairytale adventure complete with a giant. a wizard. adistressed damsel. afairlarm-boy and ahappy-ever-afterending. its sophisticated sense of humourgave itabroad appeallorall thefamily. Francois Truffautwantedto make it. Norman Jewison optioned itand one studio hadthe dubiouslyinspired notion ol translorming it intoa musicalwithBarry Manilow and Whoopie Goldberg astheromantic leads. Wiserheads prevailed, and nowithas finally materialised inthe sympathetic hands ofRob Beiner. directorolStand By Me and SpinalTap. Onefellowto have benelittedtrom the delayed route from page to screen is the young English act0r. Cary Elwes. who cuts an imposing dash asthe heroic Westley. Seen brietlyin AnotherCountryandThe
Bride. itwas Elwes‘s role in TrevorNunn'sill—treated Lady Jane that brought him to the attention of Reiner. 'l was quite happy with Lady Jane but disappointed with whatthe studio wound up doing with it later on. which is. lthink. politics. The film was edited outwith Trevor‘s jurisdictionzthey lengthened itand added more montage sequences which didn’t help. The film has very little comedy in it.
depending on what sense of
course. butRobandthe producerAndrew Scheinman saw me in itand offeredmetherolein Princess Bride.‘
Leaping atthe chanceto workwithReinerand Goldman. Elwes was unperturbedaboutbeing typecastindoubleland hose. eagerlyspending three months on locationin Derbyshire emulatingthe swashbucklingfeats of screenlegendslike DouglasFairbanks and Errol Flynn. ‘l don‘tthink you can compare withFlynn becausehe lived sucha uniquelife. butltriedto domostofmy own stunts and learnedtofence with PeterDiamond. He worked on StarWars. thelndiana Jonesfilmsandwith Lancasterand Flynn. He's inhists. butincrediblylit: awonderful characteranda brilliantteacher. There isa lengthyswordfightwith Mandy Patinkinwhich he choreographed. We looked atsome olthelongest fencing sequences everput onfilm. like Scaramouche andThe Prisoneronenda and. olcourse.the Flynn-Rathbonestuffin Robin Hood. andtriedto come upwith something of ourown.‘
Onthe basis offavourable reviews and good word-of-moulh. Princess Bride was an autumn sleeperinthe Stateslasl year. earning $26 million. its appeal however. has provedto be universal. as
Elwesexplainsz‘llove
movieslikethe Michael CurtizfilmsandGeorge
Stevens' Gunga Din and l think Bob has managed to
capture the essence of all
these classics in a very
funny way. Truffaut might
have made a wonderfulfilm
but I think Rob is the person closest to the feeling ofthe original. Grown-ups enjoy
the sense of humourwhilst
the kids like the stupendous
adventure and the fairytale: it's a film everyone seems tolike.‘ (Allan Hunter)
The Princess Bride opens
all across Central Scotland on 6 May. See Film Listings
forreview and details.
' JOE HENDERSON
Thethird visitinggiant among saxophonists plays Glasgowthh and Edinburghlath. Olthe three. Wayne Shorter. Sonny Rollins and nowJoe Henderson. it isthe latter. seephoto. whoisthe most eclectic improvisor. Having steeredthrough B&B and latinhebecame prominent as a young. early 60‘shard bopperwith Horace Silver and Freddie Hubbard.and contributedtothe variety jazz avenues opened upin the 70's. with Herbie Hancockand eventhe highly commercial rock fusion ofBlood. Sweatand Tears. One olthe original Blue Notes mostregular sidemen. he appeared on thefilmoltherecord company'srelauncha couple ofyears agoina greatperformance with Hancock. Bon Carterand TonyWilliams.And itwas thetitleofHenderson's recordings onthe new-againrecord labelthat promoters Platform have taken astheirbannerfor this superb series of concerts. ‘The State UfThe Tenor‘. See Jazz listings
VICTORIA WOOD
With an award—winningTV series and a host of successful stage appearancesbehind her. Victoria Wood can afford to
-. iii- l.
soundjusta little blase abouthershowin Edinburghthis monthA self—confessedaddictofThe Archers. she describes her subjectmatteras‘lilein general. really. Mainly stand-upcomedy with some songs and sketches. llike doing the songs. but I prefer the comedy. liustputthe songsintobreakitup.‘
ButifVictoria isfarfroma ‘newface'thesedays.she confessesthere willalways be somethingalittle nerve-rackingaboutlive theatre. ‘TV is good lun because you workwith other people. butitiswiththelive showthatyou learnthe nitly-gritty ofthetrade: you're always learning with comedy.‘
The besttrick she has mastered overlhe years has been ‘To make people laugh. I couldn tdothat when l firststarted.’
She islookinglorwardto revisiting Edinburgh asa chanceto see it ‘outsidethe Festival. whenthere's not
can actually see
themselves. Maybel'llask them questions.Thatmight beinteresting.‘
Victoria Woodis at
i Edinburgh Playhouse on2
May.See Cabaret.
l BELTANE FIRE
Whereverthere is winter there have sprung uprituals tocelebrateitsend.oflen courtingthe Church's disapprovallortheirclearly paganorigins.The Beformationdidalotto stampouttheBeltaneFires. heldonthelastnightof AprilonCaltonHill.Despite theimportance ofthe ceremonytothe Edinburgh community.thetradition finallygroundtoahaltmore thanacenturyagoexplains the organiserofthisyear's event.KevinAnderson.who hopesitwillbecomean annualeventonce more. Theintention.afterthe extended breakistolook forward. not back tothe past.So.a|ongside traditionalelementslike sharingthe Beltane Bannocks and Scottish music.dancingandpoetry. therewillbecultural contributionsfromthe Chinese.Asian andltalian communitiesthathave emergedinthecityinthe lasthundredyears. Anothertemptingaspect oftheaffairislhe l appearance ofmusic theatre groupTestDept. | l
Joe Henderson
originallyfrom South London. but currently touring aroundthe world witha show entitled ‘Demonomania'.whichis adaptedtotakeinelements l olthehistoryandcultureol whichevercountrytheyare playingin.TestDeptare commitedtothe cause of ‘re-instatingrituals l involving communities. andtheirappearanceis intendedtobe notso much aperformance asa . participatoryritual. " 42-2. ._ Commencingatllpm. " t'neeventisfree. apartfrom asmallchargetohelppay forthefood.andrevellers “to; are askedtobringplenty 0' drinkandwoodlor
the “re-Possibly historyinthe making. but definitelya very special night. (Mab)
so many people and you
the buildings.‘ After thatitwill be backto TV work. a new seriesfor the BBC and something a little different: ‘l‘m doing one ofthose audience whizzeslikelhe one Edna Everidge did. I think you can decide who youtalkto. In fact I'm sure it's all lixed. The celebrities usually writethe questions
Victoria Wood