latter)
I
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Derek Bell & Friends.
FRIDAY 30th AUGUST AND
SATURDAY 31st AUGUST
RUNRIG
with special guests
Dougie MaeLean and
From l0.00am onwards on Friday 23rd August.
Gm
llll S(‘()I‘S\l \\
WEDNESDAY 28th AUGUST
MORRISON
with special guests. . . . . Hamish Moore and
The Chieftain’s Paddy Moloney,
Sorley MaeLean (Saturday only)
Final release of sightline tickets and returns will be available on the «lay of each performance. also from Ripping Reeorrls.
8"“/10""
45 The List 23 - 29 August 1991
§ V THEATRE
A MOST CURIOUS MURDER
A most bizarre presentation of ‘a love story which went hideously wrong‘ and resulted in Scotland‘s first ‘not proven‘ verdict.
This is well weird stuff. mixing detailed Victorian dresses (frequently changed for no reason). a wigged narrator reading various letters and news reports (which lose us in a weltcr of historical fact and the topography of Glasgow) with a series of utterly bland Abba style songs exhibiting the worst excesses of SAW lyricism; ‘I know I‘ve been a fool/l know I‘ve broken every rule.‘
Delivered with a
self-assurity which smacks
of either socio-pathology or a theatrical genius so bold as to be a form of mental disorder. this stunning juxtaposition of absolutely antithetical styles is shocking for all the wrong reasons. (Stephen Chester)
I A Most Curious Murder (Fringe) Eclectia Words and Music Co. Hill Street Theatre (Venue 41) 225 7294. until 31 Aug. 8.15pm. £4 (£3.50).
THE LOST SOUL BAND
The brouhaha which surrounded Edinburgh‘s Lost Soul Band earlier this year has abated somewhat. but the band (whose early gigs prompted comparisons with The Waterboys and Hothouse Flowers) are not discouraged. or short of work. As singer Gordon Graham explains. they‘re recording their second single next month. and the members are gigging in so many configurations that even he can‘t keep track. But he doesn‘t think that all these offshoots hold back the band's progress. ‘We‘re doing a lot. but it makes things interesting and it‘s nice doingthem. It‘s good for the soul! I don't know what we were progressing towards. anyway. We've just got a lot of stuff we have to get
FEST
lVAl.
out. and this is the way we like doingit.
‘We don‘t do the same songs in all those different set-ups. I play with a keyboard player and percussionist in a group called llorny. Broken-Down And Blue. and we‘ve got 30songs. but I only do five ofthose with The Lost Soul Band.‘
Plans to immortalise this extensive catalogue on album are still vague. and meanwhile the sound ofthe band itself continuestoevolve. Seemingly at the public‘s behest. Gordon has finally decided to get togrips with the electric guitar. (Alastair Mabbott) lThe LostSoul Band (Fringe) Fringe Club (Venue 2) 226525719 (eve: (>50 4673). 22. 33 Aug.9pm. £5.50(£4.50).
VCABARET I
HAMMERSMITH FATS IS BACK
‘There‘s a lot ofpeople
: who‘llbethinking.“lshe : just going to play those j stupidsongswithstupid
lyrics all night?" Well. I can tell you now. Yesl am." So says
llammersmith Fats after
the first couple of numbersof his set. This man obviously has few of the insccurites so rampant in other Fringe
I performers. lie playsa
cool and assured jazz with his backing group- the Four Dereks — and those ‘stupid lyrics‘ help the hour-long performance to
glide by.
Nobody could mistake llammersmith for Perrier material. but for those wanting a spot of relaxed. unthreatening entertainment before taking on the Allstarsor Bill Hicks. this could be your man. (Philip Parr)
I lHammersmlthFatsls
f Back(l:ringe)Festival
1 Club (Venue 36) (3502395. ; until3l Aug.8.30pm.
; £4.50(£3.50).
V THETRE
MACBETH
Odd Socks Theatre Co has 3 atalentfor recyclingits
actors. So much so that watching Macbeth is rather like renewing old aquaintance. but for the fact that the characterisations are so absorbing that similarities
; withthecompany‘sother plays begin and end with
Fear surrounds
Macbeth. Like a
grotesque apparition of
his conscience. six actors encircle him. taunting him with his own bloody deeds. Finding in fear an apposite expression of sex. the two protagonists are impelled with intensifying obsession and paranoia towards their tragic end. The effect is heightened by the chorus which. by eschewing facial expression both emphasises the hollowness of Macbeth's achievements and makes his increasing hysteria all the more compelling in contrast.
Emma Jenkins' direction is inspired at
times. the acting is strong all round. and the soliloquies neither understated nor lost in exaggeration. making this Festival evergreen an evening well spent.
(Aaron llicklin)
! IMacbelh(Fringe)Odd Socks Theatre Co. ()verseas llouse (Venue 19) 225 5105. until Aug31 (not Tues and 29). 8pm. £4.50(£3).
v CABARET gLIVING LEGENDS
It isn’t easy toclassify
Johnny Immaterial. This
isn‘t observational
comedy. and it certainly
isn‘t political comedy. If it
was called ecological
comedy. it would only be
because he recyclesold
gags with a vengeance.
And it‘sthis painfully
embarrassing material
that endears him tothe
3 audience. Surreal poetry.
5 terrible songs on atinny
guitar. and a host of'I‘m
not saying my friends
i potty. but . . . ‘jokcswin
usover in an immature
; sort of way. In another
life. he would have presented a 70s children's
I TV programme.
Sharingthestageislan
I MacPherson. whose slow,
I easy Irish pacing hides
magnificentcomictiming.
1 Unfortunately. tonight
I the material itselfdricd up
‘ fairly early. but this was
j only a temporary glitch by
i an otherwise reliable
f performer. And anyway.
i with the (‘ounting llouse
j as a backdrop.
j MacPherson and
Ilmmaterial have the
I added benifit of
5 performing in probably
i the best comedyclub
I venue on the Fringe.
(Alan Morrison)
5 I Living Legends (Fringe)
, Johnny Immaterial and
I [an MacPherson.
I Counting House (Venue
l66)2262151.until3l Aug
(not Tue). 9.30pm. £5
(£4).