“
WORD
OF MOUTH
‘Wow. ifhe died I‘d be fucked . . . but it would make a great story later.‘ Comedian Greg Proops reacts phlegmatically to a member of the audience collapsing during his show.
‘l’d feel sexy with a tattoo on my arse. with maybe the name of someone I love. As long as it was a short name like ‘Ben‘.’
Donna McPhail on the joys of tattoos, but we thought she swung the other wav?
‘The odd sketch poking fun at life is good. and the bill must include speciality acts such as jugglers. tumblers or a dog act.‘
Walter Carr defines the ideal Variety bill — but what exactly did that ‘dog act' entail?
‘l'm looking forward to my lunch. so I suppose in that respect I am optimistic.‘ Naked director (director of Naked that is) Mike Leigh oflers some glintpse of light in the tunnel of gloom.
‘Berkoff can sometimes be a monster but having got to know him really well he is a bit of a pussycat and very warm and friendly.‘
Actor George Dillon does his best to completely destroy his mentor 's reputation.
l ‘l was brought up a socialist and a druid. These things are extremely important in my work.’
Artist and punk innovator Jamie Reid on those seminal influences.
O The List 27 August—9 September 1993
Famine at FEAST
N
The collapse of FEAST. the student-run drama organisation. would have been less remarkable had it not been for the hugely ambitious programme and impressive publicity material the group put together. Over 50 shows were billed under the FEAST umbrella. mainly at Edinburgh College of Art, which were to be performed by groups from over 40 countries.
In the end. however. the ideal of putting on a massive programme of real fringe theatre in Edinburgh dissolved in a stream of recriminations. financial difficulties and, above all. poor box office sales. FEAST stopped trading on Sunday but the extent of the group’s problems was not clear as The List went to press. ‘The main problem was an administrative one,’ according to a Fringe Office spokeswoman.
The Fringe Office has suspended all ticket sales for FEAST shows at the Art College and says it will now only deal with individual companies. Tickets for
Academy Of Fools two shows at the Acropolis. Academy of Fools and the Peking Opera. are on sale after Regular Music agreed to guarantee that the performances would go ahead.
Groups performing at the Art College reported that sound and lighting equipment was taken away by the hire companies. Despite this. many said they were determined to continue performing. even if it means playing for free and were looking for donations to help keep the venue open. ‘No one expects to get any money back.‘ said Justine Jones. manager of the Hardcore Macrame Set. ‘It started off very exciting but then basically we had no audience and it‘s been an absolute disaster.‘
Performers from Bulgaria and Poland are due to arrive in Edinburgh later in the week and Jones said they had agreed to perform if a venue could be found. (Eddie Gibb)
PERFORMER’S OHOIOE
These are the five shows that Emily Woof will be hobbling round Edinburgh to catch.
light Mt!!! light Gloria at The Traverse. Neil Bartlett is so imaginative. Gloria’s shows are always sumptuous and beautiful to look at. Peroxide Comedy Jenny Eclair at The Pleasance. She’s hilarious, rude and takes risks. I would relish an hour in her company.
Verbatim Miranda Harcourt at The Gilded Balloon. I don’t know anything about this performer from New Zealand. but I‘m interested in other solo shows from women - especially this one where she explores the theme of homicide.
The Legend at St .Itlllal Communicado at The Traverse. A fantastic company. If this is any way near as good as Cyrano de Bergerac, it will be worth standing in a long queue to get a ticket.
The Angel and the Bouncer Glitteris at The Pleasance. I know this is a very funny physical performance . . . and they are my friends.
Emily Woof is appearing in Revolver and Sex III at the Assembly Rooms until 4 September:
_ Nae luck...
Matching set
The skill of the actor is to help the audience make that leap of imagination which transports them out of the physical space of the theatre. There are some rather mundane practical considerations before this can be achieved. however. For three Fn'nge companies it has been the size of the doors to their venue that has been the limiting factor.
Amazing Grace's production of The Pedicah Show featured. unsurprisingly, a pedicab, which is a kind of cross between a rickshaw and a bicycle. ln downtown Beijing. this isjust the thing for nipping down narrow alleyways; in the Hill Street Theatre. however, it was a lumbering brute which could not be coaxed through the venue‘s doors. Consequently the performers are having to dismantle it. reassemble it on stage for the show and then take it apart again afterwards.
The Carnbride Bats. also at Hill Street. encountered a similar problem with their bathroom suite which became a case of squeezing into the closet for their show Low Level Panic. Meanwhile SYT Theatre had to chop their l4ft-high scale model ofa transporter bridge in half to squeeze it into the Celtic Lodge for their production of Dead Fish. Bring a tape measure next year. guys. (JT)
No show time
It‘s hard enough getting audiences to come to your show without the Fringe Office telling ticket buyers that the show is cancelled. Let's face it. we all hit the wrong computer key from time to time. and the unfortunate victim of operator error at Fringe HQ was Antic Hay which saw its entire run of Bel- Ami wiped out. What should have happened. of course. was that thefirst night was cancelled due to technical problems at the venue. the Dernarco European Arts Foundation. ‘They were playing to sadly empty houses.‘
according to a Demarco spokeswoman.
‘How anyone managed to see it at all was an amazing feat.‘ Antic Hay is keen to point out that its show is back on line and tickets are available from the usual outlets. (Eddie Gibb)
Hell of a job
GOD AND SATAN SPLIT - ‘ARTlSTlC DlFFERENCES!’ It's the ; headline writer's dream which made us 3 immediately suspect the involvement of one of those handmaidens from Hell — the public relations officer. This is i surely the only time of year when bad news. such as an actor walking out of a production. is put out as a press release. But. for the record. here is the story: Pip Utton is sacked from his role as the 3 Devil in All This And Heaven Too; God. played by Jeremy Towler, is angry that this all-consuming role is not being given Utton’s undivided attention — he also plays two other Fringe roles, namely Tony Hancock and Rip van Winkle; Act of God Productions is now looking for a stand-in Satan. End of news bulletin. (JT)
_J