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PREVIEW PHYSICAL THEATRE STOMP Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 12–Sun 17 Jan
Our instinctive desire to hit things that make a noise is evident from an early age. For the sake of our parents’ sanity, most of us grow out of it. But fortunately, Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas never quite managed to shake that desire off.
Almost 20 years after they first unleashed their bash-and-bang spectacular, Stomp, the duo has pretty much conquered the world. Over 14 million people in 43 countries have surrendered their eardrums to the show, and now an updated version of Stomp is heading to Edinburgh to win over a new legion of fans. The basic premise is painfully simple
– take a heap of junk and hit it hard, and often. Yet Cresswell, McNicholas and the rest of the original Stompers have ploughed a huge amount of diverse material into the show. Not only is their capacity to turn everyday objects (bin lids, plastic bags, lighters, rubber tubes) into percussion instruments remarkable, but Stomp’s tight ensemble moments, wild choreography and well-timed humour make for a major theatrical event for all ages.
To date, the show has won far too many awards to list here, and enjoyed ticket sales most theatres can only dream about. But perhaps most impressive of all, is the fact that since the show’s humble origins in Brighton in 1991, Stomp has gone through 40,000 brooms. Maybe it’s time they bought a Dyson. (Kelly Apter)
Theatre
PREVIEW NEW WRITING ANGUISH WITH POSIE Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 19–Sat 23 Jan
Fans of spoken word night DiScomBoBuLate will be no stranger to Ian Macpherson’s ability to wax lyrical. A creative powerhouse for writers, actors, comics and directors, the night helped provide the inspiration for Macpherson’s upcoming play, Anguish with Posie. A comedian by trade, Macpherson was inspired by the literary prowess of his fellow performers to write his latest foray into the world of drama. ‘I come from a real writer/stand-up comedian background and suddenly I was working alongside people that were achieving great things in theatre, so that set in motion a cross-fertilisation,’ he says. ‘I was talking to playwright Iain Heggie and he suggested maybe we ought to work together, so he’s directing it. It’s been lovely to see the idea come together.’
Exploring the mysterious relationship between a young woman and an older man, in whose flat she
takes a job, Anguish with Posie is, as Macpherson puts it, about ‘something unresolved’ between the two protagonists. He is reluctant to give too much more away about the plot for fear of spoiling its various twists and turns for the paying public. Macpherson has previously helmed one-man shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including The Chair at the Assembly Rooms and The Joy of Death at the Pleasance. ‘I’m a comedian first but really wanted to try something a bit different with this,’ he says. ‘I suppose you could call it a fragile comedy or a tragic comedy.’ If he’s nervous about writing and starring in his first
dramatic play, he happily shrugs it off, claiming he has experienced far worse than any Glasgow audience could throw at him. ‘I used to do stand-up gigs at London’s Tunnel,’ he remembers with a wry chortle.
‘It was the comedian’s graveyard. If I’d gone into the ring with Mike Tyson I’d have had a better time, so whatever happens with this, it can only be better than that.’ (Anna Millar)
PREVIEW CLASSIC MUSICAL THE SOUND OF MUSIC Edinburgh Playhouse, Tue 19 Jan–Sat 20 Feb
For decades, the swansong of legendary musical writing partnership Rodgers and Hammerstein was associated with the 1965 Academy Award-winning film adaptation, in particular the iconic image of Julie Andrews spinning around on a Salzburg mountainside. All that changed for British audiences in 2006 when that modern mogul of musicals Andrew
Lloyd Webber launched his search for an undiscovered performer to play the role of free-spirited novice turned inspirational governess Maria von Trapp in a stage revival of The Sound of Music. The eventual winner of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, Connie Fisher, performed the role in London’s West End for 18 months and has now returned to the part that made her famous for the show’s UK tour. ‘She’s very lovable, Maria. I’d love to play her until I’m 83,’ laughs Fisher. ‘She’s like a big snugly
jumper; she’s not got a rough edge to her.’
The Welsh-raised actress was keen to do the tour partly to meet fans from across the UK who
hadn’t had a chance to see the London production. ‘I didn’t expect to get such a different reaction from different parts of the country,’ she says. ‘Audiences are much more vocal in their appreciation the further away from London you get.’ While she wouldn’t rule out a return to the role of the singing postulant, Fisher is keen to explore
other avenues when this tour ends. ‘I won’t stop singing but I’ve been doing musicals for a while now and I’d like to give the old voice a rest and concentrate on straight acting.’ (Allan Radcliffe)
78 THE LIST 7–21 Jan 2010