THEATRE REVIEW Sexual Perversity In Chicago wk 1?: er at: David Mamet’s Witty, pithy comedy about the loves and lusts of four twentysomething guys and gals makes for an eaSy Fringe crowd-pleaser, charting the characters’ hits and misses, chat-ups and put-downs as they make their way from office to bar to beach to porn cinerna Ill 19705 Chicago.
From a 90s perspective, the blatant seXism of would-be lotharro Bernie is
W holefooo Shop
vegetarian vegan macrobiotic organic
Mon - Sat 104m - 7pm Sun IZnoon - 4pm
83 Clerk 5tre¢t 0151-668 2067
niches Theatre 00mm“! In association with The Observer Assemhlti
theatre - dance 0 comedy
an amusing anachronism, but frustrated Joan’s bitterness and mean Spirits still ring true. A period soundtrack helps smooth over the many scene-changes, while the sharp banter on which the play rests confirms everything you ever feared about the opposite sex.
(Fiona Shepherd)
% Sexual Perversity In Chicago (Fringe) Artcore, C Venue (Venue 79) 225 5705, unti/Aug 37, 6.30pm, £6 (£5).
THEATRE REVIEW Disco Pigs efikfifi
Pig and Runt carve their names on Pork City in a manic night of deSire, mindless Violence, disco and scampi.
Corcadorca’s smash hit of last year returns after picking up a trough-ful of awards around the world. The two friends take on a heartless world like demonic Frank Spencers on speed. Wild—eyed and fizzmg with energy, they celebrate a night on the town until Runt realises she needs more than the wasteland of their disco-lit sty.
Some of the intricacres of the baby- talk language and the pulsating soundscape are lost in the acoustics of the Assembly Ballroom, but this is still a firecracker of a show.
If you've seen it before, go again. If you haven’t . . . storm the building for
I licked A Slan’s
deodorant on Jim Cartwright
Fri 7 Aug - Sol 5 Sep in M 1/& «4} tickets: Midweek 28/537
Weekends QQ/E8
tel: Ol 31 220 2428
or 0131 2205138
The
: Calder's Gilded Balloon II
The llllmli Waiter
mi Harold Pinter
~ Fri 7 — Sol 29 Aug l.~vrv‘~.:w~i/; l 3.45 tickets.§EO.50/E5 5O .. ite|:Ol3l22o2l5l ( .OrOl3l 2205138
54 THE usr 13—20 Aug 1998
Ifl .: ' “1.. J 4'
QOOMQQM A A. AhO.°°6.”‘
a ticket. (Graham Dickson)
m Disco Pigs (Fringe) Corcadorca, Observer Assembly (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 5 Sep, 7pm, £9.50/E8. 50 (£8. 50/E 7. 50).
DANCE REVIEW
Etoko Dance Company
1% sir
Enchantress In Kyoka World is the title of Etoko's latest piece, a reference to a writer of Japanese romances. In fact, the work looks more like a Japanese MTV video of some epic 705 rock anthem.
Etoko herself writhes and emotes dramatically, but her backing dancers have little to do, wafting about like Ja- Pan's People (ouch — Ed), with a lot of intense staring and gesturing.
As a crossover between classical Japanese dancing and something more accessible to Western audiences, it doesn't quite work. The slow movements lack the concentrated discipline of butoh and the faster, hair- swirling mayhem recalls something from the film of Woodstock.
(Don Morris)
w E toko Dance Company (Fringe) Japan Experience, The Garage Theatre (Venue 8 7) 227 9009, until 22 Aug, 6pm, E6 (E5).
THEATRE REVIEW
Macbeth
eeee
Fancy acquainting yourself with the Bard and Edinburgh at the same time? Then look no further than Frantic Redhead’s production of Macbeth, which meanders through the city's Old Town, placing the tale of power, lust and murder against a background of shadowy graveyards, conspiratorial wynds and regal squares.
Joshua Wolf Coleman's Macbeth is a suitably tormented figure while Elizabeth Huffman tackles Lady Macbeth with melodramatic verve.
Although attempts to generate atmosphere sometimes compromise the audience’s appreciation, the street- theatre style infuses this well-known play with spontaneity. Frantic Redheads Macbeth — the darker side of Scottish history combined with the attractive sides of Edinburgh. (Caroline Brown)
a Macbeth (Fringe) Frantic Redhead Productions, Greyfriars Krk Yard (Venue 99) 225 5366, until 75 Aug, 6.30pm, £5 (£4).
THEATRE REVIEW Gimpel ‘8? ‘k if?
'I am Gimpel - Gimpel the fool. I don't think of myself as a fool, but that's what folks call me.’ The opening words come directly from the heart of an old Polish man relating the story of his life as a baker in the pre-war Jewish ghetto.
Gimpel (revived from the 1996 Fringe) is one of two productions by Stanislaw Michno, adapted from Isaac Bashevis Singer's stories and will be
EETRIA
followed next week by Magic Power. Although Michno worked for many years with Kantor, the style here is pared down and more direct than the fantastical imaginings of Kantor's productions. Gimpel’s life is presented with heartfelt simplicity in a monodrama backed by music.
Gimpel is an everyman: he has no pretensions to virtue; merely a refusal to accept that lies and injustice have any place in the divine Creation. He retains his faith, and we know his Spirit will not be broken by the unseen but impending horrors of the Holocaust. Gimpel may be mocked by the world but not by anyone emerging from this show. (Robin Hodge)
e Gimpel (Fringe) Mist Theatre, New Parliament House (Venue 7 64) 667 3008, until 75 Aug, 7.30pm, f5 (f3).
THEATRE REVIEW The Lemming In The Lifebelt w: A
This somewhat wistful dramatic examination of the moral dilemmas of the Tesco wine-drinking classes would probably work better as a Radio 4 play. Nevertheless it is kept well afloat by a sympathetic central performance by writer Kevin Madley as the idealistic ‘incomprehensive' schoolteacher. Picking through the minutiae of the everyday with some caustic wit, and unravelling complexes of belief into a web of doubts, The Lemming /n The Lifeboat is warmly observed, if sometimes over-wordy, middle-aged spread of a play. (Ross Holloway) a The Lemming In The Lifebelt (Fringe) The Lemming In The Lifebelt, South Bridge Resource Centre (Venue 723) 558 9997, until 75 Aug, 6.20pm, £5 (E 3).
THEATRE REVIEW Russian Anguish eeewe
Russian Anguish is a shining star in Edinburgh's Festival night. Loosely described, it is a series of Slavic singing sketches in which a whole host of everyday situations are portrayed. A satirical look at the theatre, it centres around the diva, her accompanist, and the theatre director — a truly ludicrous little man with a wicked sense of the absurd.
The characters play dual roles — both performers and observers — so each ridiculous moment is heightened to the extreme. Natalya Rojkova's voice is awe- inspiring and the music is uplifting.
The only anguish you will be feeling is physrcal, from laughing too much and clapping so hard. (Kirsty Knaggs)
g Russian Anguish (Fringe) Krasnaya Presnya, Demarco European Art Foundation (Venue 22) 556 8409, until 29 Aug (not 73, 76, 23 or 26) 7.45pm, £7(£5).
STAR RATINGS
[Ilit'il vii :-