Fruit case
“We llip them rhythmically, throw
them, shoot them, make love to them
and we’ll even have babies with them.’ Hang on Paul, I’ll put the tape on for
this. ‘We’re taking guitars where no
guitars were taken belore.’
Indeed.
‘Antonio Forcione plays serious flamenco. He has about tour albums out and he needs to express himself comically. And I otterthe juggling, and Alessandro Bernardi offers the opera. It’s a nice little flamenco lruit salad it you will. I do believe in lruit by the way.
The weird thing is my dog died a week ago and it connects to this idea of a fruit as a lorm ol lite. But I’m not going to pray to my fruits or anything.’
Mmm.
‘The lruit comes into it because we’re all different truits. The Italian is banana, the Spanish is orange and the gypsy is grapes. We’re three Latin, slightly macho and romantic Southern European characters who try to be in a band but don’t like each other. Each tries to express his nationality through his guitar and his lruit.’
And er. . . ?
‘We’re not just playing around, we’re structuring some nice musical things. Musicians will like it because it’s rhythmic and it’s weird, but it’s interestingly at a standard where even weird would be good.’
So . . . ?
‘We’re not in any specific category. It’s sort of theatrically, comically, musically, fruitfully on fire with a slight ping-pong ball spit sensation.’
Sorry?
‘We spit them and catch them with a musical score.’
Thanks I think I’ve got enough . . .
‘lt’s visually multinational fast-paced entertainment. It’s not artlor arts sake. It’s lruit Ior Iruit’s sake.’ (Stephen Chester)
Paul Morocco and the EC Big Band (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2151,14-5 Sept (not Suns), 6.30pm, £6.50 (£5.50).
Saints and
Cinnabar
Despite occupying only a few sentences in the Bible, the Salome/ John the Baptist story remains a perennial favourite for dramatic interpretation, spawning a play, an opera and allotted disproportionate emphasis in the various Lite oi Christ lilms. The latest examination of this grisly episode comes from Cinnabar, a new company set up by actress Deirdra Morris and dancer Wendy Buonaventura. However, Revelations: The Testament of Salome differs in that it focuses solely on Salome and her rationalisation oi the events which precede the Baptist’s execution, using the dual medium of dance and theatre. The production marks the directorial debut of stage and screen actor Susannah York, working in tandem with Penny Cherns.
Using myth and non-Christian lore ratherthan Biblical sources, the performance depicts what York describes as ‘that historical moment of change going from many gods to mono-theism; the women trying to keep up the worship of the Earth Mother and the Baptist who came proclaiming Yahweh and the coming at Christ, one God. To me it draws a marvelloust
tangible picture at life at that period for women, what women’s place was in society and there are certain corollaries. As with all good historical stories it’s got to have a kind of relevance to nowadays.’
It transpires that the corollary here is less a feminist manifesto, more a New Age parable. ‘The message at the end is that God is within us,’ explains York, ‘which is what Salome linds when she’s lamenting the loss of Ishtar the earth goddess. She has to find hersell, to keep alive this spark of godliness, it you like, in our humanity. Each individual is personally responsible to bring themselves to lruition and that obviously applies to men as well as to women.’ (Fiona Shepherd)
Revelations: The Testament of Salome (Fringe) Cinnabar, Traverse Theatre (Venue 15) 228 1404, 13 Aug-5 Sept, various times, 26/27.
FESTIVAL
V CABARET
HIS MASTER’S BASS
Don‘t believe everything you read. According to Jim Tavare's publicity people. the comedy double-bass player was recently to be found jamming with Nirvana in a Beverley Hills hotel lobby. But that‘s not quite how Tavare remembers it. ‘I went up to the bloke who I thought was the lead singer and told him how I‘d seen them in Kilburn.‘ he says. ‘and in fact I‘d gone up to the roadie! You can‘t make more of afaux pas than that. I don‘t think I‘ll be jamming with them again.‘
Not that Tavare isn‘t making inroads into the world market anyway. He’s appeared on US TV‘s Wings made by the producers of Cheers. made a splash at Montreal'sJust For Laughs Festival and he‘s busy brushing up on his languages in preparation for a German TV series. But despite his growing status, things can still go wrong.
‘I went to Floridaa month ago.‘ he says. ‘and that was the only gig where I had to give the money back! It was Deep South retard humour. I had to get the hell offthe island as soon as possible. I found that quite a shock to the system. I‘d always thought my comedy was quite accessible. I use Beethoven and classical music as a foil and they didn‘t pick up on any of that. I think they were retired red-necks on holiday. I did an OK show, but it was acrisis gig. cut short. As soon as you go into a big city. Los Angeles or New York there's no problem at all.‘
But will he be introuble when he reaches the limit ofjokes he can milk from one double bass? ‘Oh no. he says confidently. ‘because then I‘ll go to the tuba.‘ (Mark Fisher) IJim Tavare-ilis Master’s Bass (Fringe) Jim Tavare. Pleasance (Venue
sew/8m
: 33)556655().12Aug—5 I Sept(not l8.27).7.15pm. ‘ £7.5()(£6.5()).
V v THEATRE
REAL-TIME
‘Wc stop time and give the audience the chance to feel the nuances ofthe moment.‘ said Nava Zukerman in a recent interview in Maryland where her latest show. Real Time. was commissioned by the Columbia Festival of the Arts. Appropriately. the name of her Israeli company. Tmu-Na Theatre. translates as moving picture or picture in motion, the work being characterised by striking images inspired by music and literature.
A regular visitor to Edinburgh — last year‘s Shelter won a Fringe First
— Tmu-Na has spent the
past six months
developing the new show.
freely developed from Malcolm Lowry‘s Under the Volcano. Set in aTel Aviv bar, Real- Time brings together a collection of lonely
'3 immigrants who come into
conflict after the
unexpected return ofone
character‘s wife.
Created through a long collaborative process of improvisation. with Zukerman dictating the style and overseeing the editing. the company‘s work combines dance. theatre and music to explore abstract emotions and relationships. The harsh realities of Israeli life— last year’s performance was full of air-raid sirens and gas masks and the men in the company are ever likely to be called up for military service— have informed Zukerman‘s belief that we should live for the moment. This is not to say the company‘s work is blandly optimistic — on the contrary. it can be disturbing and uncomfortably truthful - rather that it concentrates on sensuous and powerful images that grab the attention, however
harrowing they may be. i (Mark Fisher)
I Baal-Time (Fringe) Tmu-Na, Richard Demarco Gallery/Theatre (Venue 22) 5570707, 17—29 Aug (not Sun), 6pm. £5 (£3.50).
V THEATRE
FRANKIE AND TOMMY
4' . . With a play about stand-up comedy which is
. in part stand-up comedy itself.llullTruck offers
one of the two shows on the Fringe this yearto celebrate the comic genius ofa man who made ‘cm
laugh throughout the two
distinctly unfunny eras of music hall and ‘alternative comedy'.
Writer Garry Lyons first came to know Tommy Cooper through stories which were bandied around the Sunday dinner table. ‘My father was. for a very short time. ina double-act with Cooper in 1946 in Egypt.‘ he explains. He began to write the play after realising the fascination people had for the unique talents of the useless magician with a fez.
‘The play follows the
story of their
relationship.‘ continues Lyons. ‘from the point when they met. tothe
: point when the double-act broke up and they go their separate ways.’
Which was unfortunate for Frankie. the long lost part of the double-act. but
. lucky for his son.who ; employsmany of
Cooper‘s familiar comedy devices including ‘the
fumblingmagictricksand 4 , the general sort of anarchic larking about,‘to I 1 create hisown
‘cclebration of comedy in general.'andthe’justlikc that‘gagin particular. : (Stephen Chester)
I Frankie and Tommy
f (Fringe) lIullTruck
Theatre Company. Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428. 14.15.17—2().24—27.3l
Aug.5 Sept.7.4llpm. | £7.50 £8.5(l(£6.5(l).
The List 14-2ilAugust I992 37