fStiVIrontlines
John Hannah
Forget the cultured young man making W.H. Auden’s poetry trendy in Four Weddings And A Funeral. In The James Gang, Scots actor John Hannah is more likely to be found crooning out of key in a scummy karaoke bar. As professional waster Spendlove James, he’s a man who’ll do anything to avoid parental responsibilities, even when his wife and posse of kids are firebombed out of their home and forced to resort to shoplifting to survive. Stuart Hepburn’s script mixes comedy with social realism, with Hannah still maintaining a rougish appeal even when cast against type. The James Gang (Film Festival) ABC tremendous story,’ she says. ’lt's such a Water Hal/95' 467 8855/ 20 Aug, poignant, brave struggle.’ But does 630me' cameo! 22 Aug, 3pm! {6 Vivien Leigh’s marriage to Laurence Olivier parallel her own experience? ’lt’s kind (£4)
of what people say,’ she admits, ’but I don’t think so. The difference is Vivien and Larry were a great, respected working partnership. I always hoped to be that with Bill; but life took us very different ways.’ Although the Shatners worked extensively together in theatre, the bit parts she landed in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and other films brought little satisfaction. With Vivien, she’s in her element. ’It’s physically and emotionally extremely demanding,’ she says. ’You run the gamut — you’re not just sitting there reading letters.’ (Andrew Burnet) Vivien: The Other Side Of Gone With The Wind (Fringe) Festival Theatre USC—USA, Drummoncl Community Theatre (Venue 25) 558 9695, l 5 & 26 Aug, 7pm; 27 81 30 Aug, 4pm, £5.
Marcy Lafferty
In 1970, a young LA actress was hired to help the cast of a television play rehearse their lines. She was an established rep performer, and had been a member of the first American company to visit the Edinburgh Fringe, but work was short so she took the job. Only the lead actor, William Shatner, took up the offer. They fell in love and married three years later. The Shatners were together for twenty years before exploring strange new worlds pulled them apart. Now Marcy Lafferty is back in Edinburgh in the world premiere of her solo show, Vivien: The Other Side Of Gone With The Wind. ’It is a
Ralph Steadman
His deranged illustrations for Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo classic Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas perfectly captured the drug psychosis of the book, signalling his fascination with extreme states of mind. In 1979, he published a pictorial biography of Sigmund Freud. Based on the psychoanalyst’s study Jokes And Their Relation To The Unconscious, Freud’s life was depicted as a series of gags. The publishers soon went bust and the work has been little seen, but now the Rogues’ Gallery is exhibiting the Freud pieces and much more. ’I was attracted to Freud’s ideas of strangeness, paranoia and obsession,’ Steadman says. ’As an artist, I can relate to those things.’ Currently compiling Gonzo: The Art, a collection of work from throughout his career, Steadman has leSt finished a 44ft surrealist mural for the new Oddbins megastore in London, which he describes as ’a wine lover’s Guernica.’ (Peter Ross)
Ralph Steadman -— E tchings & Lithographs (Fringe) Rogues’ Gallery (Venue 733) 225 5558, until Sat 30 Aug,
7 7.30am-5.30pm, free. All work is for sale.
BTllE usr 15-21 Aug 1997