FESTIVAL 3 pm — 6pm
THEATRE REVIEW The Ripple Effect Hm
Shades of Hollywood: The Ripple Effect
Weaned on a diet of Hepburn and Garbo, Laura wants her own piece of the Hollywood pie. But after landing her dream role in an obscure B-movie, she soon learns just how nasty the land of perfect tits and ass can be. Lecherous bosses, catty co-stars and candy-coated superficiality are the deal and this little girl lost ain’t sure if she wants to play anymore.
A born performer Sonya Walgar reels the audience in with her charming blend of sass and naivety, turning in a tight, if at times over-dramatic, performance. Hey, you gotta feel sorry for the Pammy's of this world. (Claire Prentice)
I The Ripple Effect (Fringe) Revelations, P/easance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 30 Aug (not 78, 26) 4.35pm, £5.50/f650 (£4.50/f550).
STAR RATINGS H * ** Unmissable “in it Very ood * * it Wort seeing * * Below average * You've been warned
as TIIE mp 15—21 Aug 1997
THEATRE REVIEW
After Penny
ink * at
This one-man show has a sting in its tail that would send the most fearsome scorpions scuttling off in shame. See, what happens is . . . nah, that would betemng.
But telling is what After Penny is about. Graeme Edler is captivating as a meek, even infantile, accountant who recounts to a psychiatrist the sinister tale of how he became an obsessive stalker.
The audience plays the shrink role, as the accountant sits facing us in a spotlit swivel-chair. Edler’s delivery is spot-on, heavy with seductive menace, and his body language and regular eye-contact with the audience is genuinely unsettling. Go get stung. (Peter Ross)
I After Penny (Fringe) Graeme Edler, Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 6522, until 30 Aug, 5.30pm, £6.50 (£5. 50).
THEATRE REVIEW
Fugue
*‘k
More a dramatic presentation of ideas than a play, Fugue intrigues rather than enchants.
The central premise — three characters search for a mythical ’fugue’, part enchantress and part bird, to take them to the moon, is a bizarre jumping off point for a discussion of transcendence, movement and change.
The minimalism of stage and music is drowned in a torrent of intellectual verbiage which excludes the audience rather than draws them in. Better is the interaction of the cast, who manage to create tension and dynamics out of extremely difficult material. Nevertheless, Fugue is interesting and seldom lags. (Peter Ross)
I Fugue (Fringe) Bats, Southside (Venue 82) 667 2212, until 30 Aug (not 20) 4.50pm, £5 (£4).
A Little Fight Music: nice pianist!
THEATRE REVIEW Danny And The Deep
Blue Sea * ir fir * Boy meets girl in bar. They get talking, he goes back to her place and promises are made. By the cold light of day things aren't the same, and the intimacies of earlier seem like an embarrassment. No one is saved. And that’s the story of love.
Or so it seems for Danny and Roberta. two beautiful losers at war with the world in this Scottish adaptation of American author John Patrick Stanley's play. Through the cracked emotional fabric of their lives, we see the pair drawn together elementally as they discover they're kindred spirits, only to push the coldest of gulfs between them after the fact. Which is what happens when you’re too terrified to let your guard down and let someone in lest they take over your life.
This is a beautiful piece of writing,
i"
Danny And The Deep Blue Sea: a modern Brief Encounter
it’s messed-up zeitgeist made universal by the clever tranSposition into local idiom, and given a moody. sensitive production by John Mitchell. one of Scotland’s most creative directors, who even makes an appearance himself in a Tadeus Kantor style spot of scenery shifting.
The power of the piece comes from its very everydayness in dealing with matters of the heart, making it a Brief Encounter for today's lost generation.
(Neil Cooper)
I Danny And The Deep Blue Sea (Fringe) Oxygen House/Merlin, Netherbow Theatre (Venue 30) 557 5978, 8—30 Aug, 4pm, £6 (£4).
COMEDY REVIEW
A Little Fight Music * ir 3*
Philip Pellew kicks off this show butt- naked and embarks on a series of costume changes and innuendo-filled songs, accompanied by a sober-looking Anthony lngle on piano.
Calling Noel Coward and Tom Lehrer to mind, it is very funny in parts, though sometimes a little obVious. Expect fine comic timing, and forced rhymes ~ 'Seal clubbing, seal clubbing, like porno-film dubbing', for example.
Near the end, Pellew, now naked again, made a personal plea in song: ’I wanna get laid’. I’m no expert on the male form, but when you’re nude on stage the cards are on the table. I reckon he probably will.
(Stephen Naysmith)
I A Little Fight Music (Fringe) Pel/ew International, The Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 25 Aug, 5.05pm (24, 25 Aug, 5.20pm) £6/f7 (ES/[6).
THEATRE REVIEW Acid Reign fr 1k Technical hitches prevented ACld Reign from kicking off on its speCified date but teething problems still need to be overcome. With the actors spending much of the time seated or prone, those behind the secode row miss a lot while the s0undtrack swamps chunks of dialogue.
As this is the tale of Madchester at its height, the music is lab and groovy —
the Roses, the Mondays, the Order etc — and the acting is fine as the downside of drug culture and the effects on those involved are explored. Violence, crime, poverty and bad dancrng are all there but much tightening up is required.
(Brian Donaldson)
I Acid Reign (Fringe) Z Theatre Company, C, Over-Seas House (Venue 79) 225 5705, until 22 Aug (not 75, 77, i9, 27) 5.55pm, £4.50 (£3.50).
COMEDY REVIEW A Supercollider For The Family it * ‘k * While creating a superconducting supercollider for the Military Industrial Entertainment Complex, Ben Moor’s Wife and daughter set off on a tightrope-walking tour around the world. Welcome to Ben Moor's surreal universe, where complex themes collide and flights of fancy turn to full-throttle fantasy. After 45 minutes of relentless pun punching, we’re left reeling. Intellectuals will love his fertile ingenuity. At times the dense material loses non-scientists in the audience, but there's an endearing romantic side on display as a counter-measure. You'll need every brain cell you’ve got, so leave the hangover at home. (Gabe Stewart) I A Supercollider For The Family (Fringe) Ben Moor, P/easance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 18 Aug, 4pm, [6/[7 ([5/f6). See Freeloaders, page 7.