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EDINBURGH SQUASH
Solo squash captain Angola Abola
All Edinburgh in an hour‘.’ With Tattoo included“? Nobody could accuse Angelo Abela of under- stretching himself with his 1993 Fringe show Edinburgh Squash. ‘lt's condensed Edinburgh.‘ he explains. ‘just add water. I‘m squashing in the Fringe. comedy. theatre. mime. a bit of the Festival. the Tattoo. the Fireworks. the TV Festival. the Film Festival. the lot. So why go and see a whole bunch of shows when you can see them all in one‘?‘
It‘s a development from his recent TV series 7V Squash. giving full rein to his talents as an improvisor. acrobat and. particularly. audience humiliator. Anyone who remembers Abela‘s time in the Vicious Boys will be all too aware of his mastery of the dark art of dragging unwilling assistants from the stalls. ‘There's a lot of audience participation.’ he confirms with a sadistic chuckle. ‘so beware. you‘ll find yourself in Romeo and Juliet. Abigail '3 Party or the Russian State C irt'us on ice. There’ll be a lot of people cowering in the back row. but. trust me. the back row is the first place I look. The only way to escape is to look like a drama student. a critic. or a TV producer. who never get picked on because they‘ve usually got contagious diseases.‘ You have been warned. (Tom Lappin)
l Edinburgh Squash (Fringe) Angelo Abela. Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2151. I3 Aug —4 Sept. 10pm. £6 (£5).
SGEUI.
‘A characteristic of the three folk tales we are interpreting is that they are morally imbalanced.’
explained James MacDonald Reid. director of Sgeul. a mélange of Scottish traditional storytelling. contemporary music and dance. ‘It is difficult tojudge the stories. For example someone who has recently 'reformed their ways is still defeated. or a perfectly innocent person is bumped off simply because he is an inconvenience.‘
As a part of the evocativer named Leaping Salmon Theatre. Sgeul is ‘un-amplified and live'. which is a integral feature ofthe venue. In the past relatively hi-tech shows have caused problems. and MacDonald Reid was involved in the programming this year because of his knowledge of acoustic music — he himself is a piper.
‘Sgeul means story. We are taking ancient Celtic tales and telling them in English. Two of them actually have songs and pibroch as part of the stories. The last one. which involves the dance trio. is The Death of Union. the bard who spent 300 years in The Land of Youth. The dance element is choreographed by dancers Brigid MacCarthy and Ali Scott (both from local dance companies) in response to the contemporary compositions. and performed alongside the strorytellers.‘ (Tamsin Grainger)
I Sgeul (Fringe) Leaping Salmon Theatre. Chaplaincy Centre (Venue 23) 650 8201. 16—28 Aug (not Sun). 10.30pm. £4 (£2.50).
PHILOSOPHY IN THE ALCOVE
The Marquis de Sade‘s handbook for moral corruption — original title La Philosophie Dans Le Boudoir — fonns the basis for an intriguing Fringe debut by Brazilian company Os Satyros. De Sade‘s treatise on the ‘education of immoral manners‘ was completed
FESTIVAL
in 1792 while he was incarcerated in prison on immorality charges.
In its published form The Philosophy In The Alr'ove is comprised of seven dialogues which deal with the systematic corruption of a virginal young girl by a pair of aristocratic swingers. The book’s climax (in the fullest sense) is reached when the girl's mother attempts to rescue her. whereupon the daughter happily joins in her companions' rape and beating of her mother.
De Sade‘s work. with its mixture of painful pornography and acute political allegory. has always provoked controversy. Os Satyros‘ version of l’hilosophv In The Alt'oi'e was originally developed three years ago. when the group were still working in Sao Paolo; they then undertook to revive the production after moving to Portugal. Their Edinburgh appearance is part of a tour introducing themselves to other European festival audiences. As always with the work of de Sade. expect challenging. uncomfortable viewing. (Andrew Pulver)
l Philosophy In The Alcove (Fringe) Os Satyros. Theatre Workshop (Venue 20). 226 5425. 16—28 Aug (not 22 Aug). 11.30pm. 30 Aug—4 Sept. 10pm. £5.50 (£3.50)
KLYTEMNESTHA BAIRNS
Domestic friction on a grand scale. Aesychylus's Oresteia originally lasted for twelve hours. In ancient Greece each performance was also a civic event and was combined with poetry readings. archery competitions and other such revelry.
Capturing this spirit. E.A.S.T. Scotland and Common Force are staging Bill Dunlop‘s Scots dialect adaptation of the play. K lytemnestra 's Bairns‘. 0n Calton Hill. Lit
Philosophy In Tho Alcovo: lovely Sada
only by moonlight and fire toighos the show features huge puppets. drumming. processions. and roves around several differgm locations on the hill. It Is directed by Toby Cough. who won a Fringe First lag; year year for his imaginative production of Grimm.
The story is of a king murdered by his wife. who is in turn murdered by her son. Orestes. in an act of revenge. Filled with remorse he asks the Gods for forgiveness and they appoint ajury to decide his fate. The play has been regarded as a sign of the birth ofcivilisation and the company hopes the transposition makes some valid points,
‘Apart from the irony.‘ says the show's producer. ‘ofdoing a classic Greek tragedy that's been translated into Scots in the Athens OfThc North. the monuments on Calton Hill were regarded as symbolising the whole Enlightemnent period in Edinburgh. Our director is saying. "Was this drama really the birth of civilisation and was the
ltlytomnostra’s Baims
Enlightenment really that
' enlightened?“(Beatrice
Colin)
I Kiytemnestra‘s Bairns (Fringe). E.A.S.T.l Common Force. Acropolis. top of Calton Hill (Venue 26) 557 6969. 16—28 Aug. midnight. £5 (£3). Previews l4—15 Aug. midnight. £3 (£1).
MINE’S A PIHT
If you should be lurching disgruntledly around York Place in the early hours. beware: you might lurch into a gargantuan. six- foot-high. golden wonder of a pint. Stick around for twenty minutes and you‘ll be howling with desire as it fills ever so slowly. eventually reaching the brim with the creamiest. frothiest head you‘ve ever seen. and then being mysteriously. and just as slowly. drained to the last drop.
This tantalising vision is being brought to you. just as you have been thrown out of the last pubs and clubs and have absolutely no chance of getting your
hands on the real thing. courtesy of Colin McKinnon and his slide projector. McKinnon is an ordinary Edinburgh citizen (or so he says). and a sub-editor at The .S'r‘otsman. who is outraged by plans to reduce the city's licensing hours. ‘The idea that shutting all pubs at midnight and all clubs at 2am will cut down on drink-related violence is nonsense. Just imagine the scene. everyone out on the streets at the same time. pissed off because there‘s nowhere open. and not a taxi in sight — if that’s not a recipe for violence I don‘t know what is.’ McKinnon‘s decision to stage this ‘spectacular‘ — which the. ahem. Bact'hanalian Bugle cryptically described as ‘Mparmpouri‘ — literally on his doorstep is also a protest against the bad attitude of many Edinburgh residents to the Festival. ‘There didn’t seem much demand for my Fred Astaire act.’ he says without explaining what said act involved. ‘but I wanted to get involved. I think it's wonderful that we have the world's largest arts festival in Edinburgh. It's wonderful also that until now we have had such civilised. Continental licensing laws — and if you're wondering what ‘Mparmpouri' means. it‘s red mullet.‘ (Catherine Fellows) I Mine’s A Pint (Fringe) Drink And Be Merry. West Corner of York Place and York Lane (Venue 103). 15 Aug—4 Sept. 3am. free.
l Mino's A Pint J
58 The List 13-19 August 1993