10"‘/|.ATE
FESTIVAL
A.
Casino/ The Slope
0nly occasionally does the finished product measure up to the hype, but in the case oi playwright Angelo Parra
Z the comparisons with those other
American big boys, David Mamet and Sam Shepherd, are all too apt. Together with director Pat Weber
. Sones and an inspirational cast he has 1 created two mind-blowing gems of
l one-act plays, ‘Casino’ and ‘The Slope’.
i Though very distinct stylistically,
2 both could be described as ‘issue-
! orientated’ given their common themes of homophobia, bigotry and racial intolerance. However, Parra is keen to assert his naturalistic/gritty realist roots. “Essentially they are human experience stories where political and social issues emerge.’
In fact, it was Parra’s own personal experience in Atlanta that led him to write ‘casino’. A play which explores the question of ethnic identity, something that is at the root of his work, it operates on many levels. It portrays a Puerto Rican professor who finds himself falsely accused of a
W H I P P l [xi-.3 THE FRINGE INTOA
FRENZY
‘3
Benchtours Cat. A Clyde Unity Coxcomb Theatre
Danceteller-Philadelphia Deconstruction Touring Golden Age Theatre Juggernaut Productions La Pinguicoia Sulle Vigne Melanie Stewart Dance Os Satyros Poor Fools Tandem Theatre Umbrella Theatre
Wierszalin Theatre
THEATRE WORKSHOP - venue 20 -
bx office 031 226 5425
46 The List 27 August—9 September 1993
f
a
American Casino Productions: do believe the hype
crime and subjected to interrogation by a hard-nosed, racist cop. Though born and raised in New York by Puerto liican parents, Parra still feels he has ‘a leg in both worlds’ and is keen to work through the idea oi ‘assimilation into a new heritage and the shedding oi an old one.’
The second play, ‘The Slope’, again is based upon a real-lite incident when a lesbian was attacked near Prospect Park, Brooklyn. As Sones explains, ‘We wanted to highlight this absurd attitude people have just because someone has a different sexual choice.’ What the play achieves is a iine depiction oi a homophobic brother forced to coniront his own
"HILARIOUS . . . INSPIRED . . . DEFINITELY A SHOW WORTH
GOING TO"- EVENING NEWS
Comedy Factory at the Gilded Balloon. Nightly at 11.45pm Aug 13 to Sept 4 Box Office 225 6520
bigotry when his model sister Angelique is disiigured in a gay- bashing incident. ilis vehement
conirontation with Angelique’s lover is
electrical. Essentially Parra, like his literary forebears and iniluences, writers such as Arthur Millar, Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams, is taking contemporary stories and iashioning plays whose relevance and message transcends ethnic group and sexual preference. llo mean ieat. (Ann Donald)
Casino/T he Slope (Fringe) American Casino Productions, French Institute (Venue 55) 225 5366, until 4 Sept (not 2 Sept), 10pm, £4 (£3).
V THEATRE
BENT DOUBLE
A provincial feminist inadvertently discovers that her best friend’s dull local government officer husband is a secret transvestite; she also finds herself unexpectedly turned on by the sight of him in slinky dresses and suspenders. The two of them are soon experimenting with the heady delights of cross- dressing. S&M and other forbidden pleasures in his living room of a Wednesday afternoon. And. er, that’s it. really. apart from a bit of speculation (some intriguing. some heavy- handed) as to the psychological/ideological roots of kinky sex. but the writing is wry. dry and often pointedly funny. and l the performers. particularly the woman. carry off their roles with . an engaging insouciant i lightness. (Sue Wilson) ! I Bent Double (Fringe) i Rough Girls Theatre Company. Southside '93, j 667 7365. until 28 Aug. l midnight, £4.50 (£4).
a
Lunatice COMEDY The ICEMAN
melts 2 Separate Blocks of Ice per Night
Downstairs Calton Centre 121 Montgomery Street 15th Aug to 4th Sept
Block 1 = midnight Block 2 = 12.30 am
Tickets frozen at £2.00
WHITE WATER RAFTING Enjoy the fun and excitement of running rapids. Absolutely no prior experience required and all equipment supplied by us. Foriurther details of our summer half day white water
rafting trips please phone or write to:
SPLASH 9 Nicoil Drive, Bankioot, Perth
PH1 48L tel (0738) 87430
I-‘Z -- l I i I. I I l-I ., . I I I-- V ‘, - ' I-l I I. .1 'n -. ,. ,1. _ . fillI u: "_ iii;a._-;" ' '-.°_ .- zooM THEATRE A
81' BBIDES Venue 62 Ann 23rd - 5°!“ 4‘“ 10.45pm
031 348 1405
£5.00 (3.50]