COI.IEDY PREVIEW Horses For Courses
Acting like children: Peepolykus
Take a corriedy based on a Siberian : theme, have It perforrrierl by a
company likened to the Marx Brothers and you've got Peepolvkus, who arm to amuse and barrihoo/le with their
latest comic creation, Horses For Courses lvlr’isrruerading as The National Theatre of Siberia, the trio,
drier. ted by Cal MC Crystal, explore
. comedy With a cultural Vibe through a . combination of physical theatre and clowning, Influenced by slapstI< k and
“inborn hum!
so l’llE usr 6—-l3 Aug i998
E Flamingo and hedgehog croquet, , anyone? It’s 100 years since the death of Reverend Charles Dodgson, and Tall
show. ’l've always been a big fan, and I
, popular dialogue from the Alice books,
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theatre ° dance - comedy
the circus. As Peepolykus member Javier Marzan asserts, the appeal of Peepolykus lies In adults’ response to their Visual antics. ’We do what adults don’t do anymore -- we act like children, and audiences like that.’ Featuring Chekhov With a twrst, Cossack dancrng and silly escapades, Horses For Courses is a Siberian surprise without the chill So If you like your comedy off-beat, energetic and winning, bet on Peepolykus (Caroline Brown)
Horses For Courses (Fringe) Peepo/ykus, Pleasance (Venue 33,) 5 56 6550, 9-337 Aug, 4 50pm, [7/{8 ([6/f7)
THEATRE PREVIEW Alice And Mr Dodgson
Tales return wrth their acclaimed Fringe
thought it would be a great idea to look at the story behind the story,’ explains director Toby Mitchell. 'We wanted to show how Dodgson would have told the story to Alice in hrs study.’
The play sees Alice as a petulant adolescent, returning to see Dodgson I and revrsit the Wonderland of her childhood. Mitchell uses only the most
, Grouse . 'HouSe (Venue-34) "‘
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saying, ’lt’s like a pantomime, both
,5 children and adults can enon the
show, but on different levels ’
Mitchell reassures us that the play is not a look at the recent paedophile allegations made about the author and his muse, but a light-hearted show for every generation. Alice And Mr Dodgson -— curiouser and CUTIOUSCF (Nicky Agate)
535525 Alice And Mr Dodgson (Fringe) Tall
Stories, C Too (Venue 4) 225 5705, o 30 Aug (even (fates only not 76) 3 75pm, [6 ([5/l’4)
DANCE PREVIEW Rockaby/Rowdies
The Shamans are the stuff nightmares are made of. Fantasy and reality are blurred in these two new performances by Budapest's finest physical theatre company.
Rockaby is the study of one woman's rage against the passing of time, Inspired by Samuel Beckett As she
; unleashes her frustration on a newly : discovered rocking-horse, an anCIent
puppet, who seems very much alive, rocks along In her chair In a darkened corner of the room.
Rowdies, too, is awash wrth disturbing yet compelling Imagery. Set In a dark cellar, it explores the
relationships between a group of men
as they endeavour to come to a
; decision High In negative energy, 3 Rowdies has a hypnotic feel to it,
which is heightened by the ’body percussion’ of the performers and powerful music by leading Hungarian ethno—Ia‘xx rnusICIan Mihaly Dresch.
A combination of the beautiful and the grotesQue, The Sharrians’ productions are an experience not to be rriissed if you can handle the bad dreams (Kirsty Knaggs)
533555 The Shamans (Fringe) Continental
1 Shifts at St Bride’s (Venue 62) 346
7405. R<")c'kaf)y 70, 72, l4, l7, (9, 27 Aug, 4 30pm, [6 ([4), Rowdies; ll, 73, 75, 78, 20, 22 Aug, 4.30pm, [6 (f4).
COMEDY PREVIEW Richard Herring - Playing Hide And Seek With Jesus
Herring admits to being ‘a bit annoyed’ that his new play isn’t In the Theatre section of the Fringe programme. ’It would be nice If it were In both sections, but l’m not arsey about it,’ He‘d also like to stress that he’s only appearing in it for the first week of its Edinburgh run ’l’m not arrogant enough to think audiences Will be disappomted, not for long anyway.’ His part wrll be taken over by ’a proper actor’ Paul Butner, 'l’ve always Viewed myself more as a writer,’ he says,
The premise Is slightly autobiographical. ’l've always been an atheist, but In Australia I came back a bit confused from Ayers Rock.’ The play concerns a group of friends hitting 30. ’One of the characters becomes a bit spiritualised and then something happens that I don’t want to reveal. There’s one vehemently atheistic
[ism
character, but anyone watching the play as a whole shouldn't be offended' (Rory Ford)
E Richard Herring — Playing Hide And Seek With Jesus (Fringe) The Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, 5—31 Aug,
3. 05pm, f 9/f 8. 50/£ 8 (f8/f 7. 50/f 7). Previews 5—7 Aug, £4.
COMEDY PREVIEW Psycho Vertigo Disco
Stuff and nonsense: llitchcock's Half Hour
Kula Shakin’ Stevens, Snoop Droopy Droop, Pam Ayersaquoi. Hitchcock’s Half Hour make their own special brand of comedy by juxtaposing disparate icons of popular culture and adding 'a lot of crazed ramblings’ ~ and it works. Tom Hillenbrand and Tom Cole won the prestigious Hackney Empire New Act award for their nonsensical routine, and are now bringing it to Edinburgh with added Insanity. The pair met while working at Tire Museum of Moving Image in London, and formed a friendship based on lunacy.
'We messed around during our lunchbreak,’ says Cole. ’Something Chemical came from there.’ Their show is famous for its exhausting physical pace, but the introduction of Poetry Coroner, a satirical look at verse, should allay fears of breakdown. ’lt’s loose and low energy,’ laughs Hillenbrand. 'But It’s a chance for us all to relax, including the audience.’
’It’s a strange, energetic, musical mess,’ states Cole, deadpan. ’We're quite committed to it really.’ (Nicky Agate)
fl Psycho Vertigo Disco (Fringe) Hitchcock’s Half Hour, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, 6—37 Aug, 4.30pm, £7.50/f650 (£6.50/£5.50).
COMEDY PREVIEW Argentina 78 - The Director's Cut
Following our short stay in France, the Scots really should have accepted by now that football is never coming home. But back in ’78 we really could have got somewhere. If only . . . Providing us with a humorous, fact- based account of the events