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Festival Theatre
female puppeteers. who might represent the Fates. give life to the figures. which resemble human men made from clay. and put the little homunculi through their paces — running. jumping, cycling — before finding their creations unfit for their tasks. at which point the disappointed black-clad deities cast the twisted and torn things aside and move on to their next creation/victim.
It's a macabre. disturbing and technically well-executed performance. But what on earth does it all mean? Does it represent the fragility of the human race? Or is it a critique of failed late-20th century capitalism?! Perhaps it's a commentary on the inherent limitations of men? Ultimately. it doesn't really matter. One of the strengths of this wordless virtuoso display of puppetry is the way in which it portends a great deal without telling the audience exactly what conclusion to come to. Weird stuff. But kind of wonderful. (Miles Fielder)
I Hill Street Theatre, 226 6522, until 25 Aug. 7. 10pm. BIO—£772 ($38—$10).
ANOTHER KIND OF SILENCE
Enviromentalist writer brought to compelling life 0000
If the environmental movement in the US has a progenitor and figurehead it is marine biologist and nature writer Rachel Carson. Her writing and research in the late 1950s/early 1960s brought attention to the then unfashionable issue of conservation. most famously the problems caused by synthetic pesticides.
This one-woman show. written and performed with steely gusto and control by Li/ Rothschild revisits the life and times of this remarkable woman. Rothschild traces Carson's journey from a contented outdoors loving Pennsylvanian childhood through her work as a biologist for the US Bureau of Fisheries. the publication of her bestselling books. her testimony to the US Congressional Committee on pesticides to her death in 1964.
Director Sue Mayo's production is pitched just right and Carson's scholastic. spinsterish traits are well represented by the rusticity of the set.
which is well realised by designer Sue Condie. Sound designer Joseph Young also does a great job with the fragile soundscape of birdsong.
As undeniably wordy and worthy as this is (and as her subject necessitates). it is to Rothschild's credit that you leave the auditorium determined to invest in Carson's collected works. (Paul Dale)
I Hill Street Theatre, 226 6522. until 24 Aug. 3.400m, [9—270 (£7—E8).
LOUGH/ RAIN
Quietly tragic relationship drama .0.
This piece. co-authored by Declan Feenan and Clara Brennan. opens on an early morning scene involving a couple (Jot Davies and Kate Donmall) living in a rural Northern Irish community. which segues into a day sometime later. when the male half of the couple has suffered an accident. leaving him both physically and mentally disabled.
Dan Sherer's production features striking sound design by Steve Mayo. which alternates between sounds of nature and the mad. grinding noises of urban life and juxtaposes the sound of the sea with such modern nightmares as screaming aeroplane engines. We are brought to reflect upon the banal chatter of a relationship which might have reached its frayed end. or might be simply tense on one particular day as. later. no real conversation of depth can take place. and the feeding of birds is the only feature that can make the c0uple connect.
There's a quiet kind of tragedy underneath the action. which starts a little too slowly. but builds to a powerful climax. There are strong performances from the actors. particularly Donmall, who packs her helpless trapped wife with emotional nuance. For all that. the piece makes few observations about relationships that aren‘t already familiar.
(Steve Cramer)
I Underbelly, 0844 545 8252. until 24 Aug, lpm, {38.50—89.50 ($750—$850).
JOAN RIVERS - WORK IN PROGRESS BY A LIFE IN PROGRESS
New York's comedy diva explores the ageing process - again 000
It has fallen to Joan Rivers. the world's best-known female comic. to provide some much needed glamour at this year‘s Fringe. Clad in a black pantsuit and hot pink shawl, the crude magnetism of her celebrity status keeps the packed house fixed on her every word as she weaves a fictional pre~Academy Awards dressing room disaster with stock stand-up routines on ageing and plastic surgery. as well
as some moving stories from her 75 years.
SLICK That petrol emotion 000
It has been a Fringe of uncommon misery. In the space of two weeks I have seen scenes involving gas chambers, exploding passenger jets, suicide bombers, mass executions and accidental death. After that lot, you’d think I’d be more than ready for the cartoon capers of Slick, a daft satire on cruelty, greed and casual violence by Glasgow’s Vox Motus in a Tron Theatre co-production.
Yet, much as I’m impressed by the visual inventiveness and sophistication of a show that’s half-Punch and Judy, half-Biffa Bacon, I find myself wishing this talented team of actors and technicians had put their skills to something with more depth. Call me a killjoy - and judging by the warmth of the show’s opening night reception, there are those who will - but Slick strikes me as a show that’s high on comic exuberance and low on purpose.
Yet it needn’t be so. The story of a hard-up Glasgow family who discover oil spouting from their toilet, setting in motion a plot involving big money and bigger guns, has the potential to parody the politics of everywhere from Texas to the Middle East and - right now - Georgia. But such is the superficial nature of the plot - in which nine-year-old Malcolm Biggar (Jordan Young) struggles free of his tyrannical parents only to face his duplicitous neighbours in a life-and-death shoot out - that such resonances are merely cosmetic.
Where the production scores, however, is in a clutch of superb performances, a smattering of funny gags and a novel presentation in which the actors’ heads and hands poke out from puppet bodies, giving them a cartoon-like freedom of movement. Expertly synchronised with Graham Sutherland’s soundtrack, the show takes imaginative journeys to places a regular performance could not, whether it be a high-speed skate- board journey or an intimate operation on an elderly lady’s nether regions. For this, it is well worth seeing, even if there’s more concept than content. (Mark Fisher)
I Traverse Theatre. 228 I404. until 24 Aug. times vary, E I 4—K 76 (E 70—2 7 7).
of her husband’s suicide. her parting of the ways with Tonight host Johnny Carson. and her fondness for legendary actress Mae West. But her ‘play' is really thinly veiled stand-up. With a fully equipped stage behind her and a few supporting characters — including a hapless gay producer and an over-the-top Russian make-up artist — Rivers can feasibly pass off her usual comedy routines in a theatrical format. It's a clever way to add a dimension of originality to a show that includes some old material. but it's likely that only ardent fans will experience any real sense of exhilaration as Rivers‘ thick Brooklyn accent trawls through her back catalogue of showbiz memories for what eventually feels a very long 100 minutes. (Yasmin Sulaiman)
I Udderbe/ly’s Pasture, 0844 545 8252, until 25 Aug, 3.45pm, E 78—825 (1? l5).
This confessional element shows off Rivers at her best: she talks candidly
21 Aug 4 Sep 2008 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 101