10PM/LATE
FESTIVAL SRIAGE AND TH ‘ I, f
The first thing about Diane Ford: she’s so magic. Like a cool mom or a sussed sis. Forty next month, this sassy Minnesotan’s chilled motonnouthing zips through all that baggage that defines Sex, Marriage And The American Woman. And so defines us all. Using three husbands, forty years and countless images of middle-
; America’s humdrum normality as
l scene-setters, Ford ponders aloud:
i why it is that, just as her brain’s
youthfulness. uncynical and fresh. then this show provides welcome light relief. (Ronan O'Donnell) I Chunnelvision (Fringe) Off-Off Campus. Festival Club (Venue 36) 650 2395. until 26 Aug.
10. 15pm. £4 (£3).
COMEDY ‘ THESE GIRLS I ' ! Audience: mood of oppression
as the headstrong Di. And I I Audience (Fringe) Ali i the budgie survived. 9 Productions. C Venue (Brian Donaldson) (Venue I9) 225 5105.
I Sex And Death (Fringe) until Aug 26. 11.45pm. £5
EUTC. Bedlam Theatre (£3.50).
until 26 Aug. l0. l5pm. £5 l in an Artex hallway. that i (in ‘ he was gay. But Paul Hull i . The Obligaer Hugh l
H. «1'
How peculiar to have someone relating his life to you from a tiny stage. using pastiches of the great musical numbers and songs about life in the Rhonda Valley — discovering. for example.
getting it together her body is falling Diane Ford: sex on a schtlctt
apart. Why is trying on bathing ' costumes a nightmare? Why do men ; only buy but women shop? What do : they call their dicks? Why do pubes i get everywhere, stick to everything. ‘I don’t have many rules in life,’ she says, ‘but one of them is you shouldn’t have to clean soap.’
As topics go it’s the same old, same
old, but dissected with such precision, Ford’s spiel is as revealing as it is hilarious. (Craig McLean)
Sex, Marriage And The American Woman (Fringe) Diane Ford, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 2 Sept, 10.30pm, £7. 50/28. 50
(£6. 50/27. 50).
chanmngly undemawd thllll gag ias een mate. ~ . . so have the numerous and compmdy Writt It by Vicl iv Havel d i f i i . . C r i s i r a r s y ‘ . i . - ; unapOlOgcnc way' Neither : i dissid in r itlier th in “(u EL: 11 ‘ k 1‘“ 0:1. 1m ' . .‘ ‘ A ‘ i ‘ é ‘ i ‘ z s does itseem that strange P .d 1: mi ix Hm , I“ rt? 1” PM “Vivi It i - ‘s ‘. s:: e- t u for mm to be bemng 0m iri let: it ind r in which ' Hung} U5 Y‘ I" i A)“
- . ;‘.'t-; ‘ " _;tt showstoppers m shirt and V“ 1 M lhinl‘ dis um d I bo crevt 1ou li li\c . . . i ‘ ’ 2 " :c s s x s ‘ Jeans while mp dancers II c '1 y . i: , een trottcc out: I( oesn t I HilWl) 15‘ CilllCd "110 lht‘ take long to realise that
. [mm blow. his won'ymgly thunder in the room . . . . ,, . . t : office of his paranoid. [am is no gritty
. heartfelt monologue on ,. . ' ! abmc. Tm Obligatory exploration of modern-
3 I ‘. ‘ ‘ . I ‘ ._ ‘ '. ,‘ . _ . i the progression from out story gwcs way [0 . 5L“ pityms gmlt “dds” . ' day prostitution but an
u x - r ‘wmaster boss. obsession to repulsion is wclpobscrvcd and funny I b ’Lrh m _\ brimdmt ix t. A _ l s x v s s x . c ‘ _‘ ' ‘ ‘ “ x ~ ~ \ r i entertaining as We See songs thrown m for no P , excuse or ljt)\l i romp
JULIETTE
lfyou were Romeo or Juliette. wouldn‘t you rather not die but live again to play chess and paint your toenails with Revlon's Shocking Pink? This production. part of the French season at the Fringe. puts an alternative spin on the end of Shakespeare‘s text: the couple can't die of love any more. so instead try and recapture the magic of passion's first caress. The heady blend of farce a Le Coq. serious drama. and eerie scenic effects works like a charm: you’ll be ,swooning in your seats one minute. and giggling like a lunatic the next. Extrovert Gallic (non)sense. (Deirdre Molloy)
I Romeo Et Juliette Fringe Nada Theatre Company. Theatre Workshop (Venue 20) 226 5425. 12—26 Aug. 28 Aug—2 Sept (not 13. 20. 31). 10pm. 27 Aug 8.30 pm. £6 (£3.50)
ltomeo Et Juliette: gsllus
Bellies
l ROMEO ET 1 !
Kendall Mitch Cake:
over Innovation
When the firstjoke is about farting sung to the
' tune of ‘Why Do Fools
Fall In Love‘ you know
that the level of humour is
probably not going to rise
much above the toilet seat.
Kendall Mitch Cake are
two young men with guitars. a bunch of
cleverly de-constructed songs. some slick magic tricks. and the occasional
j funny observation. Their ; energy and pace rarely sag. working wonders with a devoted following
of hysterical young women and men who
relate wholeheartedly to a :
shared obsession with dick size. beer and guns. For the most part. though. Mitch Benn and Ian Kendall remain totally
Q predictable. (Gill Roth)
I Kendall Mitch Cake (Fringe) Mitch Benn and Ian Kendall. Southside (Venue 82) 667 7365. until 2 Sept. 10pm. £5 (£4).
THEATRE
IT’S THE DAY AFTER VALENTINE’S DAY
With a poetic rapid-fire delivery. lovestruck Eric Trules takes us through the evolution of his relationship blow-by-
‘ Chicago's Chunnelvision
! specialises in
how a citizen of America's other Disneyland — that's Los Angeles — deals with this universal emotional shift. The ‘meeting the folks angst‘ and ‘you‘re turning into my father‘ accusations strike chords of recognition and we're laughing with him. But those joint therapy sessions? We're laughing at you. honey. Take your partner to see this and be thankful you're so right for each other. or realise you‘re doomed to hate each other forever. (Rory Weller) I It’s the [lay Alter Valentine’s Day (Fringe) Eric Trules. Demarco Foundation (Venue 22) 558 3371. until 2 Sept (not Sun). 11.30pm. £5 (£3.50)
THEATRE DHUHHELVISIDH
is a student review that
improvisation and
demands a certain amount ; of audience participation.
The fact that they didn‘t quite deal with the first suggestion from three buskers who offered ‘nowhere to stay tonight' as ajumping-off point said something about their American manners and charming naivety. ‘Saddam Hussein having a baby' produced the mother of all scenes. though. In some respects
Chunnelvision was a bit of i bouquets for Penelope
a 605 time warp (too many ‘irreverent’ Jesus gags). but if you can forgive a certain callow
reason other than for fun. A nice end to an evening. (Cait Hurley)
I These Girls I Knew (Fringe) Paul Hull. Southside (Venue 82) 667 7365. until 2 Sept. ll.l0pm. £5 (£4).
These Girls I Knew: ilull hath no iury
' THEATRE SEX AND DEATH
in a set that puts the ‘mini‘ into minimalist. David McCreight’s Sex
And Death spans two generations' battles for , friendship and freedom. The lives of an elderly
widow. her budgie and her home-help merge and split with the setting (an
island of holidaying
revellers) as the backdrop is literally destroyed. The corpses pile up quicker
than you can mutter ‘Elsinore'. the action
growing ever more frenetic and the play
becoming weighed-down by the burden of its emotions.
Brilliantly acted and scripted. with abundant
Lee as the widow. Adam l Speers as the frustrated l Matty. and Emma Larson
that through the confrontation ofjust these two characters — the intellectual and the ‘ordinary man' — Havel manages to convey the whole mood of a country under state oppression. But in hot conditions.
the performances of Oxford students Edward Paleit as the Brewmaster
and Leo Carey as the playwright lacked definition. In a piece so dependent on timing and rhythm. direction was '
, clearly needed butjudging
g by the lack of a credit.
none appears to have been :
given. (Ben Brown)
through some music hall standards. faithfully belted out by the three feisty main protagonists. Angel. Gypsy and Conchita.
Heavy on innuendo. light in the entertainment sense. we‘re talking Best Little ll’lim't'lmuxe In Rains-style wisecracking hookers all the way. And competently done. too. Just don‘t expect any deep social comment. (Bethan Cole)
I Tarts (Fringe) Kevin Feather Productions. Festival Club (Venue 36) 650 2395. until 2 Sept. midnight. £4.50 (£3.50).
Tarts: loltes with a hooker- llne
68 The List 18-24 Aug 1995