www.list.co.uk/theatre~
completely organic to the human land ',()(;lr’ll) animal. Parriela Carter's production of Selma [)imitrilevrc's script is a little static, but boasts a strong cast working to good effect. particularly Meg l raser, who shows some real fire in her delivery. Sadly, though, it's quite boring on the whole. ltheve ()rarrier‘i
I lraverse, 298 I404, r1rrfrl2fi/fug, frrnes vary, 5‘14 (5‘5 l‘70).
DOGFIGHT Serenity in the suburbs? em
Serial streaker, Mark Roberts, narrowly avoided an asbo for his 'performance' at the Ryder cup. lhankfully. a ]ll(l(l(l wrlh a sense of humour and an ounce of brain power dismisser the case but it's this legislalirig against the insignificant things while ignoring the real ssues that's a key lherne in this play. Community meetings, garden club and general busybodying make up everyday life in Rlackhill, but plans to p; ss a new law which wrll restrict residents to two dogs per household wrll soon destroy the facade of white picket serenity.
Successfully creating a world where it's acceptable to mentally collapse on the inside, as long as the exterior sustains the illusion of living the American dream, we are privy through innovative technigues to this inner turmoil. Commenting on the function of politics, the price of success and career versus family, special mention should go to Penny Lisle whose creation of a tWIsted mother of five on the brink of mental breakdown effectively brought out the comedy of this searing satire. (Nicola Husband) I I he Underbelly, 0870 7-15 3083, until :36 Aug, noon, {7.301860 (1‘6. {>0-sl‘f. 50).
TALKING HEADS Suburban angst returns “0.
Alan Bennett's monologues, legendary for their televrsion appearances in the 80s. also make for compelling Viewing as theatre. Presented by Glasgay and the Tron, there are live monologues in this series. which rotates as a double bill throughout the Fringe.
This reVIewer caught the second half of one of these. which featured Ross Stenhouse in a finely measured performance originally acted in the televrsion series by Bennett himself. A Chip in The Sugar tells the story, here relocated from the English provinces to those of Scotland. of a quiet living.
venous
repressed gay man, who has plainly cared for his Widowed mother into his middle ages. lheir tranguillity is ruptured when she meets an old flame and geriatric romance begins to bloom. Bennett's capacity to exact both comedy and pain from the details of guotidian lower middle cl; ss life, wrth Its modest pretensions to the genteel, is of course lrxrendary, and in Grant Smeaton's production the text is exploited With subtlety and perspicacity. (Steve ()rarneri
I Assembly Universal Arts, (59:; (£030, unfr/Q/ Aug, 4.30pm, .l‘l? 5‘14
(5‘10 5‘72).
SUBWAY Dystopian tale of Leith revolution 0...
CLOSING TIME
Passionate insight into refugees' lives 0”
ihe present conflict in Iraq may dominate both news and l lllltlt‘ agenilas but, lest we forget. away from the i‘ameras and newspaper columns, huriilrmls of u inflicts (,()llflllllt.’ to rage on all four corners of the globe Alongside death_ it is human dispersion that most marks these many unfolding tragedies and Conflict /orie lheatre. a multi national company comprised of actors from strife stricken areas from l ebanon to lira/il, aims to illustrate the plight of the many who are forced to leave their countries at the barrel of a gun
Set in an upmarket restaurant where the immigrant staff exchange stories while shutting up shop, (,‘losrng l/rne explores the personal and familial conflicts refugees and emigrants face long after they have escaped from the torment of their hornelands. lts promising premise however is somewhat undermined by its script, a collaboration led by the Israeli
Perhaps understandably, the number of people who feel pessimistic rather than optimistic about Britain’s future has grown exponentially over the last few years, according to a flurry of recent surveys. This smart and stylish production from Vanishing Point seems to bear out these attitudes, yet the piece is not without redemptive humour and a certain faith in people’s capacity to overcome political adversity.
In it, we meet a young Leither (Sandy Grierson) who, about 15 years in the future, has a drunken conversation in a pub in Hull which inspires him to return to his native landscape. This, it proves, is dominated by surveillance cameras and policemen seeking to stamp out such offences as smoking in both public and private. The Leith landscape, after the collapse of the NHS, is dominated by a vast private hospital for yuppies, while the locals find themselves marginalised and corralled into ghettoes. One of these, sinking under rising sea levels, contains our hero’s father, a man at the centre of a worker's revolution, the results of which unfold as the play progresses.
Matthew Lenton's accomplished production uses its seven piece band to splendid effect in producing a driving and intriguing narrative, the musicians themselves contributing to the humour on the odd occasion amidst a score which might well be the star. But the band has competition. Rosalind Sydney’s supporting role as nearly every character in the piece is a strong turn, while Grierson’s bewildered narrator is outstanding. His movement, as technically precise as it is smartly observed, is a wonder of itself, while his delivery, inflected perfectly with the nuanced idioms of his character's origins, brings authenticity to a piece whose identifiable localness is part of the appeal. (Steve Cramer)
I Traverse 3. UniverSIfy of Edinburgh Drill Hall, 228 7404, until 26 Aug, times vary, E76 (ES—El 7).
Festival Theatre
playwright .loshua Sabol, that too often careers off course, lapsing into a sentimentality that hinders the power of its underlying message lhe cast, skilfully directed by Michael Honen, clearly displays a harnessixl passion for the play. but. unfortunately, this fails to paper over the more clunking aspects of its writing (Miles .lohnsonl I Assernblt Universal Arts, (i; ’5‘ (it til l, rrrrrr/ ."r'Ar/g, (Tomi/ii, l‘l I fill la‘ 50
BREAKER MORANT
Uneven take on an Australian classic .00
Kenneth Ross' great Australian tale of official inlustice still feels powerful in the telling. In it, three Australian officers are put on trial for the murder of prisoners in the dog days of the second Boer War. ()real courage is shown in the face of the indifference and vengefulness of the British authorities as the piece unfolds towards the irievrtable execution
lhere are a couple of nice camixis in the course of Phil Nichol's production, notably by Alan l- rances in a series of roles, but not all the perforrriances are of egual guality. All the same, it's a good story wrth some real tension and humour on the way. (Steve Cramer) I l/(lrlerBI l l Y's Pasture, 08/0 MK) (3083, until 27 Aug, 1.40pm, H250 (14.50 (5‘10 Hit).
GET YOUR WAR ON Bush whacking 0“
“I'm not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about why I do things", honest words from President Bush, as he spells out his failings to the electorate and yet they still voted him in for a second term. Join the Rude er;hanicals as they storm their way through six years of the Republican Party's political cockrups With cutting one-liners and the help of four old school OHP's. The trouble is we've heard it all before, we know Bush is an idiot, Iraq is in a mess and the war was never really about those elusive WMD's. There's a reference to the Glasgow bombing, the destructive qualities of religion, Bush's effect on American identity and how history wrll look upon the events of the last srx years, but asrde from that, it's all old news. (Nicola Husband) I Assembly Aurora Nova, 623 3030, unrr/27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 7.00pm, £72.00—El300 (EQOO—EIOOO).
2’3 Augw‘i Sep 2007 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 101