Klub: ‘communlcatlon breakdown’
HEIDI}- KLUB
Through stylised drama and sections ofcareful choreography the cast of Klub explore the position of those embroiled in youth culture and the daily chore of life. living and staying alive in the 90s. Although ostensibly about club culture. the performance also takes on the theme of Communication. and breakdown of communication. within the world that these people inhabit. Their insights into club life are precise. thought- provoking and sometimes funny in their recognition of the truth. Klub is a heartfelt and extremely well executed piece of physical theatre.
I Klub (Fringe) Frantic Theatre Company. Calton Centre (Venue ll‘)) 477 7170. 19.2]. 23. 25.27. 2‘) Aug. 8pm. £5 (£4).
AFTER EIGHT MINCE
An hour with Ford ‘mine's a lager’ Kiernan and John Paul ‘make that a heavy’ Leach is like experiencing all the irrelevant and bizarre drinking night banter you’ve ever had in one go. The two Glaswegian bar- llies wander in and out of topics like lads out on a Saturday night doing the bars. The pair share their drug abuse memories with us. interpret the vernacular of the west
coast ned and offer a foul- mouthed round ttp of world events. Together their view of life from the back room of a Partick pub is hilarious in its inConsequence. (Rory Weller) I After Eight Mince (Fringe) Ford Kiernan And John Paul Leach. Gilded Balloon ll. Stepping Stones Studio (Venue 5|) 325 6520. until 2 Sept. 8.15pm. £6 (£5).
IIEJIEEIIIIIII NICK wrm
The idea behind this show is perversely skew-whiff: 21 Stars In T/lt’f!‘ lives-style tribute to Nick Wilty performed by Clive Borr (played by Nick Wilty) who is the world's leading Nick Wilty impersonator. Got lhat'.’ Wilty is at his
funniest as this sad
creature. and amateurish
In fact. it's the presence of both the sublime and the base which gives power to
Raskolnikov's outburst
that God is a scoundrel.
Unmissable. (Ronan
()' Donell) I Murder (Fringe)
Golden Gate Theatre.
Church Hill Theatre (Venue 46) 4-17 ()I l l. until 27 Aug. 9.45pm. £5 (£4).
SEX AND ESSENCE
This multi-media show
was inspired by the Operation Spanner case. which centred on the
i controversial prosecution
video clips of Clive have a f
Mike Leigh feel about them — the irony of how anyone could be obsessed with being a Nick Wilty impersonator is obvious. The stand-up bit starts as Borr. and reverts in to
standard observation stuff. 3 save for occasional flights of fancy — but maybe it's
Clive Borr and not Willy who‘s to blame. . . hmmtn. (Cait Hurley)
I Nick Wilty (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2l51. until 2 Sept (not 15. 3 l) 9.30pm. £6.50 (£5.50).
Kiev‘s Golden Gate Theatre has produced a brilliant. phantasmogorical show based on Dostoyevsky's (.‘rinu' um/ l’tmis/tmenl. The piece dramatises the thoughts of destitute student Raskolnikov's mind as he debates the pros and cons of murdering an old lady for her money. and so saving his sister from marriage to a letch.
English as well as Russian is used. which heightens the sense of a wracked brain grappling with the holy consciousness of its race.
of a case of sado- masochists. and new feminist writings. It deals graphically with the politics of personal choices in the outer reaches of sexuality. The show. which deals with fetishism and sado-
masochism. takes an ‘in your face' approach. but
nonetheless succeeds in raising some interesting questions about gender roles and pornography. However the group might have defeated their own point about the ‘rightness' ofconsentual relationships by trying to phone an unsuspecting male prostitute live on stage. (Ronan O‘Donnell) I Sex and Essence (Fringe) The Mad Abbot (Venue 84) 447 88l l. until 26 Aug (not 20) 8pm. 28 Aug—2 Sept. 10pm. £5 (£4).
COMEDY
DON’T TELL MY MOTHER WHAT I’VE TOLD YOU
It's hard to understand why Brian Harries bothered to come to Edinburgh. Back borne in rural Wales. this straight talking 44-year-old probably has them rolling in the aisles with his cliched observational comedy — the sex lives of farm animals. blokes pissing. women and their amusing body parts — but a regional Jim Davidson is always going to struggle at the alternative- dominated Fringe. Perhaps he's here as part of a Buddhist self-help group. providing a calming hour for those with comedy fatigue. If so. then this show is a roaring success. a laugh- free oasis in a desert of innovative entertainment. (Ian Watson)
I Don’t Tell My Mother What I’ve Told You (Fringe) Brian Harries. Marco‘s (Venue 98) 228 9116. until 26 Aug. £5 (£4).
FESTIVAL arm/10PM
CHEKHOV ANECDOTES
The smell of vodka and spring onions pervades the air as Kiev’s Theatre on Podol, last seen on these shores in Infirmary Street Baths, takes the stage, and pretty much all the auditorium as well, for a strange and wonderful version of one of Chekhov’s ‘short iests’ The Bear. This comic tale is the story of a manservant who watches as love blossoms between his widowed mistress and a landowner. This is probably the funniest Chekhov you’re likely to see, and at times it is more like Anton’s Generation Game as
‘
Theatre on Podol: ramshackle but engaging
front row.
Coopen
audience members are dragged to the
stage to take part. There’s enough exhibitionists in Edinburgh just now for them to go up willingly, and such is
one is humiliated. It is also endearing enough to forgive them their somewhat ramshackle production values, with props no tlashier than a box of porridge oats to feed the horse Toby, who was stabled securely in the
This is a quite anarchic display which, despite the language barrier, never once bores. Then again, maybe it’s all just one huge wind up. Either way, even that old grump Stanislavsky couldn’t help but crack a smile. (Neil
Chekhov Anecdotes (Fringe) Theatre on Portal, Kiev Theatre, Moray House Union I Venue 168) 556 0102, until 27
the company’s genuine warmth that no 'Aug, 8.35pm. £5 (£4).
BAGPIPE MUSIC
Joan Greening's play will appeal to those who enjoy the peculiar ambiences created by blue-rinsed sleuths like Miss Marple. The twist here is that the crime is committed by the victim. as glamorous soap opera queen Penelope. trapped by money and guilt. engineers her own downfall by revealing all to a nasty tabloid hack who specialises in character assassination. Beyond the slow striptease of disguise and motive there's a lack of real content to the play. Is it about the betrayal of loyalty that's supposed to exist in a professional
setting between one
woman and another? The piece is media-inspired. self-referential and probably best given expression as a short story in a woman‘s magazine. (Ronan O‘Donnell)
I Bagpipe Music (Fringe) Abask. Festival Club (Venue 36) 650 2395.
until 2 Sept. 8.30pm. £5
(£4.50).
PAPER WALLS
In most productions. an awkward silence means someone has forgotten their lines. In Scarlet Theatre's Paper Walls. the silences more or less are the lines. with the odd word in between.
The show opens with
three women living in a tiny house. tidying it
obsessively. Everything is so carefully placed you
know something's really out of order. and the
Paper Walls: out of thelr tldy minds
house becomes as sinister as a ticking parcel.
The cast deserve credit for their mastery of embarrassed smiles. overpoliteness and inane chit-chat. Writer Cindy ()swin and Scarlet Theatre have created a precise and understated drama which itieasures prison not by the thickness of its walls but by the punishment inflicted within them. (Catriona Smith)
I Paper Walls (Fringe) Scarlet Theatre. Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428. until 2 Sept. 8pm. £8.50/£7.50 (£7.50/6.50).
The List 18-24 .\ug l995 57