err/1m FESTIVAL
V THEATRE
THE OLIVE LAKE/THREE SHORT STORIES BY ISAAC BASHEVIS SIHOER
Where Chinese fairy tales differ from their European bretheren is in their general niceness. Over here they tend to end with people in ovens and wolves scoffmg bacon sandwiches. but in China they don‘t go a bundle on villains and retributive endings. Instead the Chinese characters discover ‘a new way of being. which is higher instead of being punished.’ according to Journey Theatre Company‘s Janet Fishman. who is currently staging the Sino fairy tale The Olive lake. The problem with such general niceness is that if the central tenet of drama is conflict then it becomes very difficult to dramatise happiness.
This wasn‘t a problem that Fishman experienced with the creation of the company‘s other production. Three Short Stories By lsaru‘ Bushevis Singer. These are formed from the more traditional stuff of drama; womanising doctors. bookish professors falling in love with peasants ant. rabbis falling out of love with God. Both productions are linked. however. by a common theme of trial followed bv ultimate spiritual elevation.
It‘s certainly been a trial getting to the Fringe for Journey Theatre. who will have worked their way across via the QE II and performances in London. Halifax and Perthshire. Will they find ultimate spiritual elevation in Edinburgh? ‘I thought the show would grow from being performed in this fire of a place where people come because they need theatre.‘ says Wiseman. ‘When I was a student in Paris. theatre was like food to us. And I haven‘t been to the theatre enough.‘ Happy browsing. (Stephen Chester)
I The Olive Lake (Fringe) Journey Theatre Company. Randolph Studio. Institut Francais d‘Ecosse (Venue 55) 225 5366. 15. 16. 19. 22. 24. 25. 27. 28. 31 Aug. 2 Sept. 10.30am. £4 (£3). I Three Short Stories By Isaac Bashevis Singer (Fringe) Journey Theatre Company. Randolph Studio. Institut Francais d'Ecosse (Venue 55) 225
5366. l7. 18. 20. 23. 26. 29 Aug. 1. 3 Sept. 10.10am. £4 (£3).
V THEATRE HOTOHASAURUS REX
The life of a street performer can be perilous. You sweat your guts out for an hour or so. putting every ounce of yourself into your show. holding the audience spellbound and then when the hat is passed around. the crowd mysteriously disappears and some miserable sod has rewarded your efforts with a lump ofchewing gum and a handful of foreign currency. Hotchasaurus Rex are the exception. Rex Boyd. David Cassel and Richie Rich have made their
living for the last few
3 years from performing on
the streets of Australia.
Canada. England and here '
at the Festival. They
chose to perform at the
Wireworks Playground in order to escape the madness of the Mound. ‘You can be busy performing at the Mound
and then a student group
starts up next to you. howling and yelling; then
; some preacher starts
shouting. a Brazilian band
5 starts thumping and you end up screaming at your audiencejust to keep their attention.‘ explains Boyd. ‘People will come to the
Wireworks because
: they‘ll know that we‘ll be 3 on. They‘ll get there.
they‘ll sit. they‘ll watch and they'll enjoy us.‘ he reckons.
So get your bodies down to the relative calm of the Wireworks and enjoy the inspired lunacy of some professional street theatre. Watch out for the ten-foot unicycle and keep your chewing gum in your mouth. (Jonathan Trew)
I Fritz und Otto (Fringe) Hotchasaurus Rex. Wireworks Playground (Venue l) 7 Aug—3 Sept. noon. free.
I Hotch’s 3i! Teevee (Fringe) Hotchasaurus Rex. Wireworks Playground (Venue l) 7 Aug—3 Sept. 2pm. free.
22 The List i2-l 8 August 1994
I Rex Boyd - Superstar (Fringe) Hotchasaurus Rex. Wireworks Playground (Venue l) 7 Aug-3 Sept. 3pm. free. I Richie Rich (Fringe)
, Hotchasaurus Rex. ‘ Wireworks Playground
(Venue l) 7 Aug—3 Sept. 4pm. free.
FIT
Dave Cohen looks like the sort of bloke who would break out in a sweat on hearing the words ’step- aerobics' never mind actually enrolling in a class. This fatist observation is not without foundation given that Cohen. a Perrier-nominee with a clutch of TV credits to his name. is bringing his one-man funny show. entitled Fit. to this year‘s Fringe.
In his attempt to stand out from the host of other white. middle-class male
; comics touting their
wares. Cohen decided to
do something ‘naughty
- but Nazi‘. Combining the incongruous worlds of the health freak with the inner
thoughts of a fascist. Cohen explains how he came to write such an odd
3 piece. ‘The show is based . on the true story of the
various ways i went through trying to lose weight. giving up
smoking. etc and ending
up at fitness classes where l was befriended by the former leader of the British National Party.‘ he
says in deadpan tones.
Cohen. however. is a
man familiar with
controversy having helped
' pen such classic Spitting
Image songs as ‘We All Hate Jeremy Beadle‘ and that affectionate anthem ‘Phil and Elton Go Bald‘. Whether he will be able to work the immortal lines —
r ‘In seventeen days I lost
i I
three stones. quit smoking
and brought fascism to its
. knees. . .’ into a similarly
snappy tune remains to be seen. (Ann Donald)
I FII (Fringe) Dave Cohen. Gilded Balloon. Stepping Stones (Venue
5 l) 225 6520. 12 Aug—3
' Sept (not 23). 12.20pm.
£5 (£3).
l
7 corn W
i ‘This Morning
. With Richard
1 the saying. As far as Richard Honing is:
Not Judy
It’s not over till the fat lady sings runs
concerned, ‘This Morning’ With v Richard Hot Judy doesn’t even begin
until the fat man has auctioned his
I unsold tickets to the highest bidder. Those prepared to hand over the biggest wad will receive preferential
treatment (complimentary drinks,
f courtesy of Mr Honing). Those who prefer to ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’,
will find themselves the butt of many
i
a joke throughout the show. Panic not '
if you end up in this position, since a judicious bribe will lead instantly to a better place in the pecking order. Having successfully negotiated a ticket, the show loosely follows the format of a TV momlng chat show, with content geared more towards a huge potential audience of slackers, rather than the perceived TV target of bored housewives and blue-rinsed geriatrics. Performers from other shows will drop in for a blether about current affairs, the Festival and who
paid the least for their ticket. Anarchy
is likely to reign supreme since the show is unscripted, but this may be
i
'5.
o ' Bribe time rv with Richard H
l erring . advantageous. ‘The first thing that
I comes up is often the funniest and ; then if you try to recreate the joke you
often lose it,’ explains Herring. ‘It’s
never quite as sharp as the
spontaneous comment.’
Given the off-tho-cuff gaffs TV
presenters are prone to make, the potential for hilarity is certainly there, 1 providing people’s humour glands are
functioning by midday. Still, if your funny bone fails to be tickled, you’ll
have the chance to wreak your
revenge on the stars by winning your very own celebrity slave for the day, to
humiliate in any way you see fit. Within the bounds of the law, of
course. (Jonathan Trew)
‘This Morning’ With Richard Hot Judy (Fringe) Richard Herring, Pleasance
Theatre (Venue 33) 556 6550, 10
Aug-3 Sept, 11 .45arn, 28/27 (£7/£6).
Dance Your Socks Off!
began as the butterfly way back in the depths of Afro-American history and ended up, somehow or another in the
i Kids! Dance Your Socks on with the Jiving ' lindy Hopp
S Jackson did it in the 80s and Bart i Simpson is doing it as we speak. It
hands (or is it the feet) of the boy
raver - the nation’s favourite cartoon, Bart Simpson. With one eye on the TV and the other on their Simpson family postor/ponciI-caso [lunch-box, kids everywhere are doing ‘the Bartman’ to
death.
So who’s going to tell them the awful
truth - and if Bart Simpson didn’t
make up ‘the Barbnan’ then who did? I suggest you pass the buck and let the feet of Britain’s only Authentic
Jazz Dance Company, Jiving lindy
Hoppers, do the talking as they tell the ; story and teach the steps behind the j Hartman, MC Hammer’s ‘running man’
and much, much more.
‘We’re not trying to take the kid’s
steps away from them,’ says Tony
5 Monaghan, the man behind this year’s Fringe demonstration/workshops. ‘Wo
just want to show them where all these dances came from.’ He
describes how kids of all ages go wild when they show them the true origins of the lindy hop. History was never
this much fun. (Ellie Can)
‘ Dance Your Socks Off! (Fringe) Jiving
‘, i m lindy Hoppers, St Bride’s Centre 3 Elvis Presley did it in the 50s; Michael 3 (Venue 62) 345 1405, 15 Aug—3 Sept, 3 12.15pm, £3.50 (suitable for ages
? 6-16, take shoes you can dance in).
J