Festival Theatre
For everything you need to know about all the Festivals visit www.list.co.uk/festival KAFKA AND SON Goodies and Daddies ●●●●●
history for being the first to become a success in mainstream cinema and remains notorious for the act of fellatio performed by Boreman. What’s less widely known is
Boreman’s subsequent rejection of her career as a porn actress, her claim that she was forced by her then- husband to make the film and her efforts to lead a normal life as a mother thereafter. Still less known are Boreman’s origins and the sad end to her life in a car crash in 2002. Written by Jeffery Bowman with a score (think Tommy meets Godspell) supplied by former punk rockers Charlotte Caffey (of The Go-Gos) and Anna Waronker, Lovelace deals with
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the above. It doesn’t shrink from Boreman’s porn career – one number is belted out when Boreman is about to be fucked on film by three men – but neither is it prurient. Tina Yothers is excellent as Boreman, as are the rest of the cast from the original, celebrated Los Angeles run. (Miles Fielder) ■ Udderbelly’s Pasture, 0844 545 8252, until 30 Aug (not 19), 10.35pm, £11–£14 (£10–£13). For up-to-the-minute Festival news follow us on Twitter: @thelistmagazine
The fascination of the reading public with the inner psyche of Franz Kafka shows no sign of abating, perhaps because the neurosis he showed reflects many of our own quiet obsessions writ large. This Canadian production, directed by Mark Cassidy, adapts a 50-page unposted letter from Kafka to his father into a monologue, in which performer Alon Nashman moves between the nervous, twitching son and the overbearing father in presenting a tale of repression and anguish, during which Kafka designates his father as his principal reason for writing. On a set strewn with black feathers,
where fireguards and beds turn into cages, Nashman gives a committed and compelling performance, where each strategy of escape from his father’s crushing influence, from attempts at romance to escapes into a more intense Judaism, are explored, then discarded. There’s no doubting the dark, intense energy of this piece, but some of the more rambling elements of Kafka’s missive tend to seep into the script, to the point where the piece, though only a bit over an hour, outstays its welcome by perhaps 15 minutes. All the same, devotees of the writer might well be intrigued. (Steve Cramer) ■ Bedlam Theatre, 225 9893, until 28 Aug (not 16 & 17), 2.30pm, £12 (£10).
LOVELACE: A ROCK MUSICAL Respectful tribute to the Deep Throat porn star ●●●●● This rock opera goes a long way to rescuing its subject, Linda Boreman, from the ignominy of being forever associated with her screen persona, Linda Lovelace, and the 1972 porn film Deep Throat. The film made
NEXT ISSUE OUT WEDNESDAY 18 AUGUST 76 THE LIST 12–19 Aug 2010
MY ROMANTIC HISTORY Inventive, funny observations of contemporary relationships ●●●●●
In DC Jackson’s new play we meet two pretty ordinary West of Scotland thirtysomethings who, having drifted from a drunken sexual contretemps after an office night out into a slightly uncertain relationship, are thrown back into reflection upon their great first loves. While Tom (Iain Robertson) compares himself to Gandhi in his capacity to passively resist his partners to the point where they must dump him, Amy (Alison O’Donnell) finds herself reluctantly hanging on, if only to spite her self-righteous hippy office mate (Rosalind Sydney). In the meantime, a more grown-up decision looks like being forced upon both.
Lyndsey Turner’s production, complete with Chloe Landsford’s pop-up design that features an abundance of props produced from office drawers and cardboard
boxes, captures the deft, cartoonish and witty spirit of this piece, which turns on a he said-she said series of re-enacted incidents. Jackson’s endlessly inventive observation, always a feature of his work, is here combined with a sense of mature craft that endlessly amuses. This is a more clever than profound piece, but its observations of contemporary sexual mores are as pointed as anything you’ll see this fringe, with a series of sparkling set pieces (look out for the subtle masturbation in bed while next to a partner; or the series of motherly emotional consolation clichés, brilliantly strung together; or meeting the ex while lying in the street covered in sick) to ignite the evening. Three wonderfully observed performances add to the joy of it all. It’s been a couple of years since this old theatre hound laughed so much – just see it. (Steve Cramer) ■ Traverse Theatre, 228 1404, until 29 Aug (not 16, 23), times vary, £15–£17 (£11–£12).