Festival Theatre
For everything you need to know about all the Festivals visit www.list.co.uk/festival THE SUM OF IT ALL Ghostly tale of grief ●●●●●
In a creepy old cemetery, a figure rises from his grave and speaks of the process of death in macabre tones. He then goes on to describe the life that preceded his demise. He proves to be a lonely young man who has ended his life in delusion after an affair ends his relationship with his one true love. Anomic’s multimedia production
boasts some slick cartoonish animations, emanating from a bank of television screens, which takes us from graveyard to dark, foreboding streets, then to an apartment filled with sad mementos. The two performers are physically very impressive in matching the brooding action of the piece’s bleak metaphysical story. But the text in voiceover doesn’t quite match the quality of the rest of the piece, with the odd snatch of Shakespeare mixing in with a slightly banal language. That said, in exploring the bleak metaphysics of modern alienation, this is a story that speaks movingly of the wasted life at the centre, and there are some impressive passages of movement along the way. (Steve Cramer) ■ Zoo Roxy, 662 6892, until 30 Aug, 8.35pm, £10 (£7).
STICKS, STONES, BROKEN BONES Your plastic friends ●●●●●
There’s something delightfully primal about a shadow-and-light show; it makes us all into children again. This 68 THE LIST 19–26 Aug 2010
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unintentionally) funny confessions on everything from her relations with studio bosses to her views on ‘women’s lib’, even losing her virginity, come pouring out in a kind of self- justifying purge. Cavett touches a nerve when he contrasts Davis’s career with tragic stars like Monroe and Garland. ‘Those actresses didn’t have my discipline,’
rasps Bette. The statement is given added poignancy when you consider the amount of junk Davis was forced to act in before clawing back control over her career. For all her faults Davis was no one’s victim and this highly enjoyable show is a timely reminder of her appeal. (Allan Radcliffe) ■ Zoo Roxy, 662 6892, until 30 Aug, 3.05pm, £11 (£9).
piece, a light comic novelty of the kind only seen in fringe festivals, is an exemplar of its kind, with the delicate touch required for a family show, and a sense of cartoon hanging over both the children’s toys and bits of cheap plastic that assume monstrous life projected on a white screen.
Montreal performer Jeff Achtem assumes an endearing clown character to bring us into a world where a balloon, a wig and some masking tape become an old woman watching a horror film, while a pen and a shoe acquired from the audience morphs into the creature stalking her. With a teddy bear becoming a man undergoing icky, yet never offensive brain surgery, and another volunteer from the audience propelled into martial arts combat with a kung-fu master made of bits of glove and plastic, the show makes us part of Achem’s imagined world to an impressive degree. You could stack all the props used in this piece up, and I doubt they’d cost you a tenner, yet this little fragment will provide you with more entertainment than the average multi-million quid McMusical. (Steve Cramer) ■ Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, until 29 Aug, 2pm, £9–£10.50 (£8–£9.50).
BETTE/CAVETT Confessions of a Hollywood legend ●●●●●
N A M K R O W T R E B O R
Grant Smeaton’s verbatim recreation of a famous encounter between a 63- year-old Bette Davis and talk show host Dick Cavett in 1971 leaves you with an aching nostalgia for the days when chat show guests – and celebs in general – were worth tuning into. Smeaton’s brilliant performance captures many of the familiar nuances of Davis’s character: the imperious rise and fall of her voice, her pursed lips, her poise. Gordon Munro, resplendent in a synthetic hairpiece, also nails Cavett’s ingratiating disingenuousness, and the power relationship between the two ‘good friends’ is fascinating. Cavett’s questions are often simply bulldozed by the actress, who turns her body and attentions to her audience. But she’s a gift of an interviewee, albeit one who can’t be bothered to listen to the questions. Frank, detailed and (sometimes Online Booking Fringe www.edfringe.com International Festival www.eif.co.uk Book Festival www.edbookfest.co.uk Art Festival www.edinburghartfestival.org
IMPERIAL FIZZ Fast-talking 1930s drawing room satire with a twist ●●●●●
Like the spirit of Oscar Wilde (all barbed wit and intricate language) filtered through a dark Lovecraftian sensibility, Imperial Fizz adds an extra ingredient to a classic recipe to delicious effect.
Sophie Fletcher directs American Brian Parks’ seemingly light-hearted marital comedy in which a constantly sozzled couple bicker their way through glass after glass of alcoholic concoction. Issy van Randwyck and David Calvitto deserve an endurance medal for getting their mouths around such lightning fast feats of verbal dexterity, every line hewn from the vastness of the English language with a scalpel’s precision.
Yet this glossy facade, which on its own is rich enough to comprise a
whole (but very different) play is the lacquered screen that disguises the real truth. There are inklings that things are not quite right: a shabbiness to the costumes, intrusive static on the wireless. Where at first the couple seem comfortable with their pattern of jibes and jests an element of fear creeps in, jocularity falters and anxious, angry attacks replace playful rehearsed debates. As we learn of an upcoming event the couple expects with trepidation the tone slides from frothy to sinister. The dialogue that once skipped along seems to be trying to outrun their fate, to force comfort with the repetition of the familiar (and a few stiff drinks). It’s a heady experience, a runaway train of words where to drop attention
for a line is to miss much. For all the tension, the act of watching is immensely enjoyable rather than fraught. Any social commentary about class or sexual politics is there if you squint, but entertainment is the overriding flavour. Like a well-made cocktail, the constituent elements are indiscernible and the overall effect on the palate delightful. (Suzanne Black) ■ Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, until 30 Aug (not 24), 5.25pm, £12–£13 (£10–£11).