sit/1'" FESTIVAL
who has the ability to call on the Muses and create characters at will — very handy down at the party when she decides to turn someone into Romeo. But when her family hasto move, her happy days are ended and the Muses begin to take control.
The seven-piece ensemble provides live musical accompaniment and sound effects on stage to chart the progress ofthe
Nightingale, originally commissioned by the t Burrell Collection in
HEEL- OUCH!
What happens when the the cartoon characters from the comic‘Ouchl'. based in Ouchvillc. come under attack from rival comic ‘Zonkl‘? Wham! BIam! Crash! is the
‘It‘s a rollick.‘ says Hazel White. director of
1 Derek appear side by side and are only briefly in the same time together and never in the same place. So while Verena bares her soul as she talks, over the course of a year, about love, marriage and children, Derek is becoming increasingly drunk on a train going lrom Aberdeen to Glasgow.
The character 01 Verena emerged alter Lochhead was asked to do a revue at the Tron Theatre in 1981. Since then she has written four more instalments
I OUELOUES FLEURS
Glasgow. is a
choreographed story set
to original music by a
Scottish composer Jerry I
F. Randalls. and is
directed at older children. I
Lastly. The King '3 Ears.
an ancient Celtic story I I
about a proud king who has a dark secret about his
\
ears (Prince Charles,
. ' .. . erha s'.’ and threatens ' ~ * . . $§$lifi§§ffi§jfigioup Knittinloncwnonnds . Liz Lochhead and Stuart Hepburn last aboutthe ‘olirlli widow’. For her last “was?Shiicnstgigjiflo , “‘5 a ma”), fast, bouncy out. punishing his worked together on the award-winning incarnation she prepared iorthe role by FOtPC _'n ff v‘" rgious ‘ I show. For anybody who hairdresser Once a year to ; Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head ‘waxing my legs and wearing an Lnnguasg‘t’céthcdamcal i remembers the old comics keep him HUI“ A" Chopped OII Willi Communicado. “Odersun,- characters,
anarchic. ‘sculptural‘ puppet show which is retold in rhyming dialogue I and accompanied by celtic harp music.
Phew. See this man before he collapses.
like the Beano and the Dandy. or for the kids who don‘t, but will take it at face value, it‘s a really fun musical comedy.‘ The music has been especially written for the
The script is typically comic and colloquial, as when Verena describes her sister as staying ‘in a three-up in Easterhoose, has to hump that pram doon three flights past plsh, broken glass, auld hyperdermics and Alsation
Guelques Fleurs, however, was originally written for a talking heads monologue for television, consisting of live different scenes. ‘When I wanted to do it on stage,’ Lochhead explains, ‘I thought what will I put in between? It
Director Edward Pinner claims that while billed as a children’s show, the play contains ‘a dark and sinister side' which should appeal to older members ofthe audience orthe
show. ‘It arodies a (Michael Balfour) was Iain He is who actuall ave me shite’. t . number ()[Tstyles for the l The Ginoemread Man the chattenggot doing a mail:9 It promises to be vibrant, moving and | (Sgtikilsfsacfci‘t’crgt' adults in the audiencct mm“ [3" Turbi‘.‘ monologue; so I’ve written in a IllflflY- (MICMBI Balm") I dim rate; mm mm Kurt WM" She 5““ Pimp“ Theatrc‘ 6"de husband as well, who was previously Guelques Fleurs (Fringe)Liz Lochhead. I Shakespeare (Fringe) ‘and there‘s the “old 51‘2'1"‘;f§¥c1‘:°13_~§5 an (upstage character) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 220 4349, i Global Catastrophe.
school song" and very catchy tunes. ones that
2%31 Aug. 10am, £4 (£2) Now adapted and expanded iorthe 10-15, 19—22, 27431 Aug, noon, £6 Pleasance (Venue 33) 556
you can certainly clap I Peterand the Woll ) Fringe, the two characters Verena and (£5); 15. 17. 23-25. £7 (“5)- 6553612175?ng 50 with. as well as anumber l (Fringe) Gilded Balloon 11' am‘ ' ( ' )' ofreprises.‘ ' (Venue 38) 2262151‘ ' V (Robert Alstead) . iii-(832648 Aug- 10am. acknowledgcsadcmm performing arena. I warning. :One ofthe . 5
I Ouch! (Fringe) Festival . The 5"“ o , Frcnch productions 0f ; The Show conjures up 8 things we ve been praised I
Chm (Venue 36) 6502395 m Min rear}: , ' Beckett and makes ttse of myriad of ideal and lively for '5 that ‘fve Vc been able 12—17 Au8~ 12-301)”). £3 9 on ( rmgt) f circus style clowning) the t ‘0 “mm mm humour' bm
(£2).
IAN TURBITT’S PUPPET SHOWS.
Gilded Balloon (Venue 38)226215],9L11Aug, 19—22 Aug. Il.3(lam.£4 (£2).
I The King's Ears (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38)2262151. 12—17 Aug.
latter theme is examined in terms ofmodern paramilitary aspects of Northern Ireland.
A play which is political without being specifically
worlds where everyone looks the same and no one is treated differently from anyone else.
Jane Wiseman. producer and founder of the company. explains the
it‘s very powerful and emotional,‘ says Ackley. ‘It tries to show how
misinformation gets
spread, tries to give the correct information, and to show that there can be
DE STRASBOURG
Evelyn Glennie has undoubtedly done more than anyone to raise the profile of percussion on the solo recital platform. But several years before
Irish. director Patrick
company‘s approach. Sculley feels it was I
. . .3 z ‘ I . - Ian Turbttt is probably the 11 0 ‘m‘ L4 (8) There are ten performers‘ hope tfwe all educate she was even born, Les
busiest man on the Fringe. ' E definitely written about ang between 18 and 50‘ ! OUTSCIVCS and Work Percussions dc Strasbourg Hers dorng an exhaustive ‘ ‘heroes and super-heroes, who have Spent a (tear v together. ‘ was astounding audiences four shows within three even if Yeats wasn‘t aware preparing and pcficctmg The Play says We Tc 3" 5 With its performances of
weeks. Six years ago he gave up a genial job as a graphic artist to become a puppet ‘sculptor‘, making characters out of wood, clay and cellastic.
Since then Turbitt has become interested in exploring the form and developing different styles for younger and pre-teen children. The four shows he is bringing to the Fringe are firstly, The Gingerbread Man, which is a ‘run-around‘ act that involves storytelling. puppets and theatre games. Some ofthe children are invited to join in. Secondly. Peter andthe Wolf, a traditional interpretation using Prokofiev’s music. but introducing sections where the children can participate.
Thirdly, The Emperor's
L \- -«____,.,‘
Belfast newcomer, Newtonabbey Theatre Co, has decided upon a bold revival ofW.B. Yeats‘s neglected dramatic work to launch its first Fringe venture.
By adapting and amalgamatingAt The Ha wk: well and The Cat and the Moon they have created Moon Madness, a folklore play presented in the traditions of Poor Theatre.
The drama is centred around a well in which two tramps hope to find a cure for their ailments. while a Cuchulian-typc character
hopes the immerSIOn of
his armour in its waters will make him invincible. While the antics ofthe tramps emphasises the comic element of the work (the production readily
24 The List 9— 15 August 1991
ofit at the time.’ He promises that those who think of Yeats as drawing room poetry are in for something very different. (Stephen Chester)
I Moon Madness (Fringe) Newtownabbey Actors Company, Bedlam Theatre (Venue 49) 225 9893.12--17 Aug. 10.30 am. £2 (£1 ).
NEW WORLDS
flrst CHANCE Theatre Dance Company has been in existence for an impressive twelve years. providing the opportunity for mentally handicapped adults to train and perform in dance and the theatre arts. Each year they save up their best work for the Festival - 1991 is no exception.
New Worlds has been devised by the members of the company and Louisa Livernese. an internationally known choreographer who was in on the first year ofthe group. It was she who encouraged the participants to move out ofthe studio and into the
New Worlds. ‘They meet twice weekly and make all the decisions themselves regarding music and stage material,‘ she says - it is obviously an empowering experience.
(Tamsin Grainger)
I New Worlds (Fringe) flrst CHANCE Theatre Dance Company. Diverse Attractions (Venue 11) 225 8961,12—17 Aug. 11.30am, £3 (£2).
V THEATRE
GOING TOWARD THE LIGHT
The students from BC.) Glass High School, Virginia, have been thorough in their homework for this musical play about people affected by AIDS. ‘We talked to people with AIDS, people who work with AIDS sufferers, even the kind of people who wouldn’t talk to AIDS sufferers,‘ says drama tutor Jim Ackley. Constantly updated, as new revelations are made about the virus, it is essentially an educational piece. but without the bleakness ofa government health
? victims ofAlDS,’Ackley
continues, but ultimately the greatest response has been from those suffering most. ‘Every time we perform the play, we have people with AIDS come up to us when it's over and thank us for it — it‘s a catharsis for many people.’ (Robert Alstead).
I Golng Toward the Light (Fringe) Chaplaincy Centre (Venue 23) 556 5184,12—17 Aug, noon, £3.45 (£1).
LAMB’S TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE
The Lambs were a brother and sister outfit who carefully edited out the sex and violence from Shakespeare in the early 19th century. Hence the title of the Oxford School of Drama‘s latest Fringe production, which in the late 20th century promises to be a user-friendly introduction to Shakespeare for everyone from eight to eighty.
The show centres on a girl in blissful childhood,
ensemble percussion playing. Formed in 1962. under the direction of Pierre Boulez. this group of nine players has a vast repertoire ofover 150 works which unbelievably use more than 400 different instruments.
Their Queen‘s Hall
concert on Thursday 15, as part ofthe Edinburgh International Festival‘s lively morning chamber music series. features three works. lont'sarion by Edgard Varese was written for thirteen out of the 400 instruments between 1929 and 1931. while John Cage's First Construction in Metal for six percussionists is a little later, dating from 1939. Pleiades by Iannis Xenakis is the final work in what promises to be an exciting morning.
But would this not have been a golden opportunity for the Edinburgh Festival to have commissioned a new work specially for this concert? We live in hope. (Carol Main)
I Les Percussions de Strasbourg (International Festival) Queen‘s Hall, 225 5756, Thurs 15 Aug, 1 lam, £3.50—£9.