Theatre
tage Whispers {EDANCA S DEBORAH COLKER
Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Tue 30
I It the Traverse company?3 0"" 3, Wed 31 May
productions haven’t quite been
atthecut‘ting edge overthe last Bu" 1‘» w '
wee while, no one could accuse r. .t/ a? .' . themofdoing nothing to rn-zy.» ‘ «w ‘v r ' remedythe situation. They have 'a"'r‘ r. t‘:- n , r
iust announced an initiative for be" w: a my. z . era.-
the Autumn season, which looks ’;ri’,'rrrrrr'a:,t‘er. borrmr r) .
as adventurous asitis Rot/er: w my. ~ :4 r- we.- I" artistically healthy. They are and T./)'7'.v:"‘;/;’zi". “:a': ~- i- r‘ inviting young companies to ‘eatJr'n 1" (zar‘r e“ I: z: apply for two bursaries they are rut e.
offering, incorporating full H;r.‘.".(l site”? ,rférl‘, ; v fr». professional support, with a work: r,‘ pm; . 'rr-rm. viewto creating new work later large 8?; re «-.r~.«,,-,«,, r; intheyear. This is the kind of khan”; her; to am;- w‘. :r“: wt
scheme that has lent so much vitality to the Arches In recent years, and is certainly a welcome presence on the East Coast.
In addition, the Traverse's traditional remit of discovering new writing talent is not being neglected, with a number of ten day residencies on offer to young writers who might work in tandem with the above project. it looks an exciting departure for the Trav, and augers well for the Autumn season. Details for applications are available at the Traverse.
Meanwhile, a visiting company you might have seen at the Tl'averse a few weeks ago, People Can Run, will bring some of the company back to Scottish stages very shortly with a work in progress at the Tron. If you saw Aruba at either the Festival or the Traverse, you'll not need Whispers’ persuasion to see more of the young writer Rob Evans’ writing. This latest project is an attempt to translate the complex and ambivalent, but always entertaining, writing of American novelist Paul Auster into theatre in True Tales. It looks well worth a watch, and can be seen at the Tron from Thu Mat 27 May.
Rob Evans' Aruba
80 THE LIST 25 Mm-S June 2008
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work and the akwrrrrertmner
bondage. ACT/Wink} to Collar.
dornrrratror‘ and sat/rule rte". ‘r ‘rr' part of am everyda. I've“). ‘l" r‘e sometrme‘; ,’<:.r new: tr: t:‘: sf'wtzr. sorrretrrnes you need to b»: .'.‘z:£it\ and fragme.’ she says
for ()olker, Knot rt; all about desrre
both expressed and repr'er-ssed. In the
second half. she replaces the sea of ropes wrth a large Perspex box. Inspired by Amsterdam's red light district. and the tantalising u'xay expensrw products are 33ll()‘.‘.rt1£if‘rt:tl behrnd glass (ilSlJL’i‘, eases. the box leads to some athletrt: manoeuvres from her talented dancer's. “rt/hen began to choreograph wrth the box knew I had to trnd different ways to clrmb in and out.’ says Colker. ‘I needed to be rnverrtrve. because i couldn't rust show the audrenrte the same entrance and exrt — I had to create new things.' tKelly Apter'
READINGS
WORLD CUP GERMANY 2006: SCOTLAND V GERMANY Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 31 May—Thu 1 Jun
The World Cup. eh? We love rt. pathether ‘.'.re're r'r rt or r‘ot. And there are at. warts. of somal aspects that don't )ertarn to foot; at all. For ont- thznr}. rt t)i?€:" seems f’, fill the arr wrth a peCulrar' form of erotrr: tenSIon. Perhaps thts rs tedatrsr: Lumen deprrved of male attention as therr partners; become 9: more extreme methods of attracting notice than LlS’titti. The aeragre triaie; Mama“ fan can bear Witness to the way, rn ‘.'.it|(lh grrtr’rrerrus null suzrrrerir. r,E;‘:.'r‘t,er ’r"’(, laps 0r drSrobe before them after rust '30 minutes of rifafttr; of tie 3a,; Extenr trms; period to several weeks. and the effects can he. Tl‘i,"f\)ti(}t‘ri‘, erg/,grnie Tare, f; perhaps a ten male heterosexual theory. but b. all mean“. t', 4’. at "r,"‘e. acts.
whether you lr'ke football or not.
Meantime. the burld-up continues ‘.'.'rth th:s adrrrrrabie project from. t're T’fl.":"?;‘:. who show some saw/t, wrth the zertgerst rn Cream/g readrrgs for t.-.r; a'rrrrr'ar,ir: footy themed shows. Scotland's Henr, Adam's ather‘ Dorm; K has. a ixr'rtarr ston; about Aberdeen's glorrous early 80s and German r‘rter Marc Becker's .‘./e're m the Final. a tale of the Worrd Cup Frrral told from new, r3e's:,ef:t..es ix;- read on conseCutrve nrghts. I'lI be there as warm up for the ‘.‘.or=d Cur run 1"“; glorrous Socceroos. Perhaps tout! be flee to prepare for .-.'hoe‘.e' supportrng’? Or rust to get the grrtfrrend speed” up . . Stem; Crarr‘e'
Ni riék MONKEY Royal Lyceum. Edinburgh, until Sat 27 May, then touring .000
Nostalgia, they say, isn’t as good as it used to be. Try telling that to the Dundee Rep Ensemble and their Tayside sister company, Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT). Forget Tizer, Spangles and the Rolf Harris revival, if you want to invoke the spirit of the 19705 you can‘t do better than stage the Asian saga Monkey. The Japanese TV series, based upon the epic Chinese tale of Monkey’s journey from China to India with the priest Tripitaka, remains seared into the collective memory of British thirtysomethings.
This new stage version is aimed, primarily at children aged eight and upwards, but when i saw it at Dundee Rep on opening night, let’s just say there were a lot of unattended adults. And why not? The whole idea of reviving Monkey as a collaborative dance theatre piece is totally inspired. Co—directors Janet Smith (of SDT) and Dominic Hill (of the Rep) have set themselves a tremendous challenge. However, like Monkey overcoming his arrogance and achieving true enlightenment, they pass with flying colours.
As it tours, the production will vary its cast, drawing on the considerable talents of the two companies. The opening night line up was superb. Keith Fleming, in particular, offers a fabulous reworking of Pigsy, Monkey’s dim- witted companion. Playing the role with an inexplicable and hilarious north- east Scottish accent (which might ruffle a few feathers when the show goes to His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen), his brilliantly cartoonish performance makes the TV Pigsy look positively restrained. Anthony Missen makes an exceptional Monkey. His movement around Ben Stone's cleverly considered set is superb, and his cheeky characterisation is absolutely charming. Beautifully paced, with superb live music by Christopher Benstead, this production achieves an impressive balance between the sheer daftness of the TV series and the spirituality of the original tale. (Ben Waters)
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