10pm - Late festival
Hooked on classics
*‘kt
OUATHAIH- SPOTTING
.limmy craves poetry like Renton needs smack and this work follows tlte Wordsworth junkie on his descent into the seedier side of literary addiction.
The set is minimal and the dialogue pacy and packed full of self- referential plays on the language ofclubs and drugs while the fast. punchy scenes are held together by a suitably ptiiiipiiig Trains/inning- ('.\(/u(' soundtrack.
Qliulmilrvpr)Imre effectively Itlkc‘s lllc‘ piss out of the more esoteric aspects ()f drugs/club culture by transposing the ivory tovvers ()f poetry into the squalor of the extremes of modern youth life. Poetry never felt so dangerous. (.Iiii) Byers) I Ouatrainspotting (Fringe) Marco's (\"enue ()8) 22( ()l I(). until 3! Aug (not IS. 29) llpm. £4 (£3.50).
* ‘k * BOUNOERS
John Godber‘s simultaneously grim and hilarious comedy. previously all-male. benefits from a total sex change. SAFE’s ensemble work is painstaking and smooth but leaves enough room for excellent characterisation and wry contemporary touches. The switch to an all- female cast is an enlightening one: it‘s both amusing and discomforting how the mating rites of our youth. here confined to one night‘s frantic clubbing. snogging and shagging. can be so easily parodied. However. between the extremes of cologne and vomit. there's some real affection in the performances: let‘s face it. we've all been here before. A musical. vital interpretation that
deserves a larger audience. (Phil Miller) I Bouncers (Fringe) Aiming The Rifle. The Rifle Lodge (Venue 101) 557 I785. until 24 Aug. l2.15am. £3 (£2.50).
* * OOORSLAM
There are doors in this physical theatre sliovv [mums/run. and there is slamming. Lots ()f it. Iiiiough to put the sti'oppiesl of teenagers ()ttl of a job. There just isn't too much else going ()ii in this jerky-limbed. silent- movie-like study ofcity paranoia.
Faceless characters exit and enter like there's no tomorrow. and it's all very hyped-up and frantic and hectic but at the end ()f the day —- not very effective.
There are flashes of excellence including several potent images that are over far too quickly. Slamming doors in the
Shown the door
face of tense. nervous city-dwelling is all very well. but this needs far more spit and polish to really hit home. (lillie Carr)
I Doorslam (Fringe) (‘oloui' Cliitic/Plaslicene. Theatre Workshop (Venue 2()) 22() 5425. until 24 Aug (not lb”) Il.|5pi)). 2()—3| Aug. 7. l5pm. £7 (£4).
****
OHLOE POEMS HEALING BOAOSHOW
The gingham diva applies mascara to her third-eye and adopts the guise of healer for the evening in an attempt to exorcise her past life as Paddy Field. Tory MP for the Wirral Peninsular.
The gay socialist transvestite poet shows herself to be more than vvorthy ()f her epithets as she presents her profound study ()f gay culture through lascivious poems. writhing dance. enchanting song and a
gingham frock.
Helped by a ‘feisty demon of both sexes'. ('li/m’ I’m'ms arrives at her image of a gingham paradise. and it becomes clear that the gingham chanteuse is not just a pretty face. ‘Gingham lieals!‘ (Alan Crawford) I Chloe Poems Healing Roadshow (Fringe) Pantomime Productions. The Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 ()55(). until 3| Atig. l|.-l5pm. £7.5()/£().5() (Lb/£5).
**** PHILL JUPITUS
My notes for this show read: chickens. fat. monkey sptiiik. I.A. lions. accents. Attenborough. nutters and improvisational dish/arse interface. What a psychiatrist vvould make of it doesn't bear thinking about. .Iupitus turns it illlo an hours north (if helpless mirth.
llis act consists ()f t\\() C()ll\'()llllc‘(l shaggy dog stories. ()ne abotrt his fear of spiders and one about the dangers ()f mixing large carnivorous cats with care in the community patients. ()n reIIection. it's not easy to fathom vs here one ended and the other one began but by the time he gets to the bit about Rhode Island Reds you're laughing too hard to care. (.loiiatlian Trevv) I Phill Jupitus (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 22b 2l5l. until 24 Atig. l().l5pm. £7.5()/£().5().
* ALEX LYOHS
Irish comedians do well here but the advantage that Moran. Jimeoin. Ed Byrne er a! have over Dubliner Lyons is: a) they are funny; b) the majority of their material has relevance outwith a two- mile radius of their place of birth.
Ai) uneasy mixture of the vulgar. cue the constipated sumo impersonation. and the erudite in the forth of a spoof W. B. Year‘s poem. his material falls between two stools while being consistently lame.
To be fair. there are a couple of good gags and an accurate Beatles' impersonation but this is one case where throwing the baby out with the bath water is fullyjustified. (Jonathan Trew)
I Alex Lyons (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428. until 3| Aug. midnight. £6/£8.
*‘k‘k
THE SHAWl/ THE WOMAN WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS A 006
Here's a double bill about shrinks. David Mamet's forgotten psychiatrist and patient short. The Slum /. has the trademark Mamet dialogue and menace and is performed vs (II)
tightness and competence.
if not flair. ill The Ilium)”
FOSTER
RECT
“Dlsturbingly funny sho Festival who makes vent
Il’lm 'l'lmrre/II .Vlt’ Was .-I Dire. \vriler Nick .loseph has admirably created the
first play louse the doggy
position as an extended metaphor. llis vvriling is smooth. amusing and dramatically impressive. though his direction is often loose ttlld the plays sesual politics seem slightly naive and confused. (iiegory Fos- Mui'pliy excels in both plays. raising tvvo run-of- the-nnll productions itito quite a pleasant way to spend an evening. ((irant (iordon)
The Woman Who Thought She Was A Dog: tt hltes
I The Shawl/T he Woman Who Thought She Was A Dog (Fringe) AF. Productions. Southside (Venue 82) ()()7 2212. 7—3] Atig (not I I. 2(). 29) I()pm (The Shawl). Ilpiii (The Woman Who. . .). £5 (£4). double-bill offer £7 (£5 ).
vi trt
* t it t * llnmlssable * i t t Very good
i t it Worth seelng t i: Below average * You’ve been warned
GRACIE PRESENTS
IIAVID artisan
FROM
w from an
T
riloquy cool 393‘“-
unmistakable star of this year’s
Scotland on Sunday
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The List I(i-22 Aug I996 71