DANCE/PHYSICAL THEATRE PREVIEW
TurboZone Presents Cinderella
Once upon a time a young girl named Cinderella lived in a land nearly obliterated by civil war. When her mother was brutally killed, the unfortunate girl suffered at the hands of her wicked stepfather, Dr Amoral. a crazed geneticist with underworld connections. One of Amoral's first cruel acts was to transform poor Cinders' favourite doll into a mutant half-monkey, half- cyborg. He wasn't all bad. though, and created a pair of cyber sisters for the lonely lass . . .
A classic tale is stripped of its sweetness, mutilated beyond recognition and time-warped into the next millennium in TurboZone's anarchic new production. ‘The original story's there,’ explains Chris Yates, the company's producer, 'it's just being told in a slightly different
Grabs you by the balls: Cinderella
way.‘ This is an ever-so-slightly understated description of TurboZone's radical reworking which appears to share the gleeful irreverence to fairy tales of Angela Carter’s short stories and Roald Dahl's Reva/ting Rhymes. Grimm this version may be. Disney it most certainly is not.
Performed on a unique stage. specially constructed from four converted fire engines, Cinderella combines traditional, contemporary and futuristic live theatre techniques. The glass slippers, powdered wigs. ball gowns and bodices are all in the mix. but this familiar 17th century splendour has been fused with circus. puppetry, pyrotechnics, stunt bikes and bazookas to create an exhilarating assault on the senses. From behind protective safety barriers at Edinburgh University's Old College Quad, audiences will thrill to the spectacle of flying acrobatics and exploding bombs, topped off with a thumping soundtrack of progressive techno.
It's a demented concoction that’s been gradually perfected by the celebrated TurboZone since the group was formed eight years ago by artistic directors Mojo Fell and Seth Fellner. Now with an international membership of artists and technicians, the company is based in Spain where the winter season is spent holed up in creative activity.
For those eager to go to the ball, TurboZone will be making a preview appearance at this weekend’s Fringe Sunday celebrations, wreaking havoc among the merry- go-rounds and candy floss stalls of Holyrood Park. Yates and friends are clearly relishing the prospect of creating a strong first impression. ‘We‘re going to go in a couple of fire engines with a big skeleton puppet, flame throwers, maybe a couple of motorbikes. Should scare the shit out of a few people.’ he cackles. (Allan Radcliffe)
I See Hit List, right.
Tedium
COMEDY REVIEW The League Against Tedium ****
With everything from space shuttles to cheap video recorders with no instructions, machines rarely work in complete compliance with man. When you invite a few hundred people round to watch man and machine in perfect harmony, inevitebly they won't be. Such is the lot of Simon Munnery.
The League Against Tedium attempts to blur the lines between stand-up, lecture and computer-generated installation. Munnery goes the way of techno sensory overload to amuse, shame and alarm the audience into surrender, with computer controlled projections of himself among other images and animations. His one-liners are brilliant, as are the everyday themes he picks at and observantly turns on their heads. His targets seem like random potshots - which is the only
part of the show that harks back to his previous incarnation, the woefully unfunny and intensely irritating ’Alan Parker, Urban Warrior'. With Parker, the joke was the fact that he was shouting; in this, the joke thankfully is what he is shouflng.
DeSpite stuttering technology leaving Munnery stood staring, rabbit in headlights style, into the camera while nothing happens at various points, the bits between the spaces are more than sufficiently funny to eclipse such glitches.
It maybe true that Munnery has acheived his claim of 'I AM TV’. Like the best pap TV, this ramshackle piece of work doesn't really peak, come to any conclusions, is very conscious of its own technical foibles and simply throws things at you in the hope that some stick. You don't really know why you love it, you don't know why you want more, but you do. A beautiful mess. (Mark Robertson)
I See Hit List, right.
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" Get tickets now, or find yourself crying in the streets with disappointment. The League Against Tedium See review left. The League Against Tedium (Fringe) P/easance (Venue 33) 556
6550, until 30 Aug (not 24) 9.50pm, £9/£8.50 (£8/£ 7.50).
And A Glass Of White Wine For The Lady Al Murray the pub landlord, the big boss bartender, is comedy class in a glass. See Feature page 20 And A Class Of White Wine For The Lady (Fringe) AI Murray. Pleasance (Venue 33) until 30 Aug (not 24) 9. 25pm,
£9/£8. 50/£8 (£8/£ 7. 50/£ 7); George Square Theatre (Venue 37) 13-14, 20-21, 27-29 Aug. 11. 75pm, £9/£8. 50 (£8/£ 7. 50). Cinderella See preview left. Cinderella (Fringe) Turbozone. The Quad (Venue 192) 662 8740, 16—30 Aug (not 26, 29) 9.30pm, £12 (£9). Andromache Post-Apocalyptic Troy is the venue for this stunning experimental tale of tragedy. See review on following pages. Andromache (Fringe) Laboratorium 33. Rocket Venue (Venue 16) until 21 Aug (not 15) 9pm, £7.50/£6.50 (£5/£4).
Howie The Rookie A fantastic black comic tale of urban lrish life told by two young men. See review on following pages. Howie The Rookie (Fringe) The Bush, Observer Assembly (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 30 Aug, (not 18, 25) 8.10pm, £9 (£8).
Ross Noble Peroxide-locked elastic loony perfects surreal physical comedy. See review on following pages. Ross Noble: Laser Boy (Fringe) Ross Noble. Spiegeltent (Venue 87) 558 8010, until 30 Aug, 9. 30pm. £8/£ 6. 50 (E 7/£ 5. 50).
12-19 Aug 1999TIIE usr 51