3pm—6pm FESTIVAL
THEATRE REVIEW WASP by Steve Martin ****
Steve Martin's WASP: supremely surreal
Hollywood smog hasn’t dimmed Steve Martin’s Vision. His supremely surreal play clearly slices through white Anglo- Saxon Protestant hypocrisy.
Seriously weird and weirdly serious about its theme, WASP stings a family whose aspirations to attain luxury
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items repress real hope. Dad denies his nerdy son affection to make him strong, li’l Suzy is sweet sixteen, Mom is perpetually panic-struck. Everyone, except Dad, hears Voices. V0ices incidentally is a dark, enigmatic character, stunningly played by Adele Anderson. The primary-coloured set emphasises a childlike trust in dollars and golf.
Poetic, pOIgnant and hard-hitting, this brightly packaged sweetie bag contains soor plooms. (Gabe Stewart) I WASP by Steve Martin (Fringe) Third Stage Productions, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 30 Aug,
3. 75pm, f8/[9 (£7/f8).
THEATRE REVIEW The Prince Of West End
Avenue ****
If this theatre lark ever hits the skids, Kerry Shale would make a great stand- up comic. His Virtuoso performance of fourteen characters owes more to Woody Allen than OliVier.
The residents of Manhattan's Emma Lazarus retirement home battle bitchiness and the constant pOSSIbility of sudden death in an effort to stage Hamlet. Meanwhile, 83-year-old Otto Korner gives us a backie on the ’bicycle of memory’ as he pedals into his past.
Shale’s rapid-fire vocal changes,
T gift. NationalYouthTheatre
Have You Seen This Girl?
a new play by Peter Terson
Per formai‘icc time 5.45pm
August 17 19 21 24 25 27 28 29 30
PLEASANCE ONE 0131 556 6550
60 The Pleusance. Edinburgh EH8 9T1
likeable Jewish humour and clever use of Shakespeare is excellent, so it comes as no surprise when the hushed conclusion gives way to thunderous applause. And the rest is silence (Peter Ross)
l The Prince Of West End Avenue (Fringe) Kerry Shale, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 30 Aug, 4.25pm, £7. 50/f8. 50 (f6. 50/f7. 50).
COMEDY REVIEW
Perineum Intact-A * Ar *
Despite the misnomer that is morning sickness and all the back pains and the piles, it is (apparently) only on seeing the birthing room that soon-to-be mothers realise they have made A TERRIBLE MISTAKE.
It could be the confined space, it might be all the pointy Surgical instruments, but most likely it’s the blood on the ceiling. Perineum Intact-A is a howl, a hoot and a scream for that epidural. Nurse, more drugs! The real stOry of pregnancy and popping sprogs as told by two mums and not the propaganda spread by doctors and midWIves. Apparently. (Rodger Evans) l Perineum Intact-A (Fringe) Mothers Unleashed, Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2 757, until 30 Aug (not 25, 26 or 27) 5pm, [6 (£5).
COMEDY REVIEW
Un Vento lmpetuoso * a:
God-awful performer arrives in Edinburgh to do a show. Nothing new there. Only here it provides the basic structure round which we see Italian artiste Giorgio stood-up by his assistant, and consequently thrown together With unhinged Spanish prima donna Carmen Dolores. Regarding his proposed adaptation of Genesis as too heavy, she attempts to introduce humour by clowning around in the background. A battle of Wills ensues With much Latino Cursing.
The odd-couple create colourful portraits and use pidgin English to comic effect. The result is mildly engaging but like the antagonist at its centre it's pretty vacuous as a piece, With much of the humour failing to cross the cultural diVide. (Claire Prentice)
l Un Vento lmpetuoso (Fringe) La Canapia, Out Of The Blue (Venue 743) 556 5204, until 30 Aug, 4pm, [5 (f3)
DANCE REVIEW
Will Gaines - Jazz Hoofer * t t 'k
Pot-bellied, chubby-cheeked and silver- haired, Will Gaines looks like your grandad. But the 65-year-old trouper Is a tap dancer With toes silver as his hair. A Fringe veteran of thirteen years, Gaines now goes easy on the triple barrel turns, but more than makes up for it elsewhere With tap moments more quality than quantity, the bulk,
and the real charm of the show lies in
the cheeky (iiiips and backchat With his
hard-working band, and the crowd, who’re more than up for it. So what if he name-drops Nat King Cole and laughs at his own jokes. Who could resist a face like that? (Ellie Carr)
I Will Gaines — Jazz Hoofer (Fringe) Will Gaines, Graffiti (Venue 90) 557 8330, until 30 Aug (not Mon) 5.45pm, £5. 50 (£4).
THEATRE PREVIEW Cruising
You know the story. You’re on your hols, a few tequilas down the line and up for nonsense. In Cruising, repressions and everyday pressures are left at the quayside, as an unlikely posse set sail in search of sun, sea and adventure — all manner of hi-jinks ensue, and the tension between fellow holidaymakers, an incompetent paint stripper and archetypal Edinburgh QC, become all too apparent.
While the piece is not overtly class- conscious, director David Campbell explains that ’Cruising explores the interface between the classes and where they meet, clash and break down, with spectacular results.’ And in such confined quarters, even Houdini would be hard pushed to escape the reality of the morning after.
Essentially a black social comedy, Cruising is very much rooted in Scotland. ’Well for a start they all drink a lot,’ Campbell laughs. ’The feeling you get on holiday is a lot like being pissed out of your head. You lose your inhibitions.’
Forget Thomas Cook. It’s cheaper to stay in the pub. (Claire Prentice)
l Cruising (Fringe) Gal/us Theatre Company The Famous Grouse House (Venue 34) 220 5606, until 30 Aug (not 25) 5pm, £7 (£5).
THEATRE REVIEW Talking To The Wall ****
Irish author Mannix Flynn must have been snogging the Blarney Stone. His intense confessional show is one hour of verbal mayhem and emotional shadow-boxmg. The gab has not only been gifted to him, it’s been wrapped in a ribbon, sprayed with scent and hand-delivered.
Commanding the stage, staring down the spotlight, Flynn looks like some deranged Samuel Beckett. Tracing the life of a man from VlVld birth, thr0ugh troubled youth, to theatrical redemption, Talking To The Wall is a poetic and engaging work. Ten years in the writing, Flynn’s excellent script is given a rocket-fuel lift from his manic, blistering delivery. (Peter Ross)
I Talking To The Wall (Fringe) Suger/oaf, The Honeycomb (Venue 739) 226 2757, until30 Aug, 4pm, £6 ([5,).
STAR RATINGS * * air air vr Unmissable * t t A Very ood ‘k t * Wort seeing it t Below average it You've been warned
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