list.co.uk/festival Festival TheatreReviews at a Glance
Apples ●●●●● Adam and Eve, in this council estate reinvention of the myth, are two teens struggling (with four friends) to survive their sex, drug and violence-heavy environment. A series of rites of passage, from unwanted babies begat from equally unwelcome sexual encounters to drug fuelled punch-ups, represent obstacles in the path to adulthood. Richard Milward’s text breaks no new ground in the genre, but leads Therase Neve and Scott Turnbull bring compelling performances to the piece. (Steve Cramer) Traverse @ St Stephen’s, 228 1404, until 28 Aug, 4pm, £17–£19 (£12–£13). Barockestra: Rocking the Classics ●●●●● Rock interpretations of well-known classical pieces from Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and the like featuring a full rock band, opera singer and ballerinas to give a foot- tapping tour of the greats. Overlaid with a cheesy humour that you could only expect from ‘baroque’n’roll’ front man Steve Grant’s enthusiasm is catching, and while the show certainly caters for a select taste there is no doubting the talent of the musicians involved. (Amy Russell) New Town Theatre, 0844 477 1000, until 29 Aug, 10.10pm, £11–£12 (£9–£10). Frances Ruffelle: Beneath the Dress ●●●●● Given Ruffelle’s showbiz background – she’s the daughter of London theatre school founder Sylvia Young and a Tony Award-winning star of West End and Broadway musicals such as Les Misérables and Chicago – it’s unsurprising that her cabaret-esque Fringe appearance should be consummately professional. It’s also cheeky, sexy and comes with a few surprises as she reworks songs, switching from lounge to punk, jazz, blues and 60s pop. (Miles Fielder) Pleasance @ Ghillie Dhu, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 8.15pm, £14–£15 (£12.50–£13.50). Getting Over Milk Wood ●●●●● This modern reinvention of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood is trying so hard to be ever so clever that it ends up making little sense at all. The attempts at modernisation and characterisation are heavy handed, cast members frequently fluff their lines, and things go from the sub-standard to the ridiculous when we're introduced to sock-puppet worms that speak with the voices of the dead. (Laura Ennor) Diverse Attractions, 225 8961, until 28 Aug, 9.15pm, £7 (£5). Grimm Tales of the Unexpected ●●●●● Offering precisely what it says on the tin (minus an ‘m’), this piece from Manchester’s Broken Productions crudely draws out the latent dark content of the Grimms’ fairytales, with scenes of incestuous rape, three murders and a suicide cropping up. It should be shocking, but the confused narrative (it’s mainly a take on ‘Hansel and Gretel’, with disjointed elements of other stories before and after) and awkward dialogue in this devised performance detract from that. (Laura Ennor) C soco, 0845 260 1234, until 30 Aug, 1.30pm, £7.50–£9.50 (£6.50–£8.50). The Hunchback of Notre Dame ●●●●● Writer/actor Pip Utton follows his challenging one-man shows Adolf, Chaplin and Bacon with another deftly scripted and vividly performed drama,
this one about Victor Hugo’s deformed Parisian bell-ringer. Taking the form of a monologue delivered by Quasimodo from his lofty lair, it’s the harrowing and moving story of his life, but also a critical commentary on mankind’s hypocrisy and cruelty and our obsession with skin-deep beauty. (Miles Fielder) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug, 3.15pm, £8.50–£10 (£7–£9). I, Claudia ●●●●● Writer-performer Kristen Thomson swaps between eerily shapeless masks to deliver monologues from a precocious 12-year-old girl hiding from the fallout of her parents’ divorce in the basement of her High School, her stepmother Lesley and the wise Eastern European school janitor. Initially the theatricality of the masks dictates the tone, and there’s a sense of potential tragedy in the theatre. But no, this is a straightforward family drama, with a final coda about seeing the self in one’s own sadness that sums up just how unnecessary all those masks and costume changes were to a play that doesn’t move out of the suburban doldrums. (Jonny Ensall) Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, until 30 Aug, 3.40pm, £12–£14 (£11–£12). I’m Still Here . . . ●●●●● The West End pro takes a saunter through hits from Sondheim to Mika and Queen to ‘Moon River’ with a connecting thread of drama. His voice holds up well, ably flitting between genres, but a worrying ironic tone starts to creep in until during ‘MacArthur Park’ a batty old dear is watering a spongecake. Straker doesn’t require such tacked-on distractions, which are detrimental to the show. (Suzanne Black) Pleasance @ Ghillie Dhu, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 6pm, £10–£12 (£8.50–£10.50). Italia’n’Caledonia ●●●●● Two amiable old boys (Mike Maran and Philip Contini) sing and gag their way through the history of the families that formed Edinburgh culinary institution Valvona and Crolla. Along the way we hear of their struggling starts as entrepreneurial emigrants, through a murky, tragic, encounter with Italian fascism, and on to postwar, Hibs- supporting prosperity. There’s a homey kind of atmosphere to this unpretentious piece, helped by live accordion music. (Steve Cramer) Valvona and Crolla, 556 7800, until 30 Aug (not 29), times vary, £12 (£10). Markus Makavellian’s International Order ●●●●● Markus Makavellian (aka Glasgow- based performance artist Drew Taylor) sets out to shock. But you’ll need more than an unnecessarily long opening poem about defecation to shock a Fringe audience. It’s not quite clear where this show begins or ends, and at times it’s little more than hysterics with rhyme, but Makavellian has his most impressive and amusing moments when regarding his own act with tongue firmly in cheek. (Laura Ennor) Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, until 29 Aug, 6pm, £6.50–£10.50 (£8–£9.50). Miranda ●●●●● A naïve young actress full of Bollywood sass is recruited to join a British theatre company in their production of The Tempest. What follows is a rather adolescent ghost story of improbable romance and revenge. Ankur Bahl gives an animated performance, shifting effortlessly between different characters with graceful dance and a charming sense of playfulness, but it is not quite enough to distract from the obscurity of the disconnected plot. (Amy Russell) Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, until 29 Aug, 6pm, £10–£12 (£9 –£11). Naked Live and Never Again: My Last Discourse on Dramatic Method ●●●●● Andrew Hawkins (son of veteran British actor Jack, star of Zulu and Ben Hur) gives a terrific performance in this witty monologue. Hawkins plays an acting guru named Jack Treadwell who, having had enough of coaching celebrities and politicians, is bowing out of the business. The unappreciative audience was, unfortunately, clearly primed for funny ha-ha stand-up. Go expecting postmodern playfulness, however, and you’ll be laughing. (Miles Fielder) Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 3.50pm, £9–£10 (£7.50–£9). The Night Heron ●●●●● A devout young man suffers in a freezing shack, while his geezer-ish roommate plans their escape. It’s a basic plot outline, at which almost everything you’d expect to see at the Fringe is thrown: poetry, religion, comedic touches, earnest drama, violence (hinted at) and full- frontal nudity (explicit). It’s an interesting watch, but is a bit too broad to be fully engaging throughout. (Niki Boyle) theSpaces @ Surgeon’s Hall, 0845 508 8515, until 28 Aug, 5.55pm, £10 (£8). Quality Control ●●●●● This ambitious little play attempts to tackle too many issues: self esteem, adultery, closeted homosexuality and, oddly, corporate box-ticking attitudes to multiculturalism. Oh, and it has a violent life-sized crayon. It all ultimately comes out in a bit of a muddle. There are some great storytelling devices, and at times the language is beautiful, but it badly needs a dramaturg or experienced director to create consistency across the writing and the performances. (Callum Ritchie) Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, until 29 Aug, 10.10pm, £6.50–£10.50 (£6–£9.50). Stripped ●●●●● Hannah Chalmers proves herself a versatile performer in this one-woman show, dropping comfortably into an array of archetypes: the naïve first time stripper, the lecherous club manager, the nervous, kind-hearted client. Chalmers seems to acknowledge that audiences don’t shock easily; her exploration of her former profession’s institutionalised exploitation of performers and clients is insightful, not salacious. (Matt Boothman) Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 30 Aug, 4.15pm, £10 (£8). Tales From a Cabaret ●●●●● In the underground vault of Fingers Piano Bar two actors in white face, bowler hats and shabby suits first give us a history of cabaret culture. They go on to a series of increasingly sinister jokes and songs, reminding us that the history of repression, which gave rise to underground entertainment, is still with us. Some nice skills with stringed instruments are shown here, in a piece which improves from a slightly fusty start. (Steve Cramer) Fingers Piano Bar, 225 3026, until 28 Aug, 9pm, free.
Too Middle Class for Chlamydia ●●●●● Curiously, this one-man show in which a young middle class lad recalls the variously difficult girls he’s been romantically involved with is delivered as a comic monologue, though the material is probably better suited to a stand-up routine. A few asides to the crowd and a couple of humorous songs also suggest as much, but it’s fairly pedestrian – not to mention misogynist – stuff in any event. (Miles Fielder) Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 477 7007, until 29 Aug, 1.30pm, free, non-ticketed. Two Bloody Queens ●●●●● It takes a brave man to sum up the lives of two dead monarchs – especially in drag, in a noisy pub basement, in an hour. Robert Inston’s portrayal of Elizabeth Tudor and Mary Queen of Scots is a noble, but shambolic attempt to show the real women behind their ‘diva’ reputations. It’s an over-ambitious history lesson and, sadly, Regina fails to engage with her commoners. (Claire Sawers) Laughing Horse @ The Argyle, 221 9759, until 29 Aug, 7.30pm, free. Now is the Winter ●●●●● Unless you’re seriously intimate with Shakespeare’s original give this a miss. This one-woman reinterpretation of Richard III retells the story from his ascendancy to the battle of Bosworth through the eyes of a faithful servant. A challenging notion, but there’s a reason Shakespeare wrote this for an ensemble. Confusion abounds. All credit goes to performer Helen McGregor for a committed effort, but as a concept, this drags. (Siân Hickson) Augustine’s, 510 0022, until 30 Aug, 6.45pm, £8 (£6). Über Hate Gang ●●●●● The audience become (un)willing members of a terrorist act in this well-executed play, as the Über Hate Gang plan to blow up the theatre. A slightly meandering start gives way to some explosive confrontations as personal rifts and deeply hidden secrets bubble to the surface. A strong cast do a roundly excellent job of building the tension in this brutal exploration of disillusionment and delusion. (Anna Millar) Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, until 29 Aug, noon, £8.50–£10 (£6–£9). Up to Now ●●●●● Robert Shaw’s monologue takes us through events from the life of his grandfather, the composer Martin Shaw, in fin de siècle Europe. From conducting for Isadora Duncan to meeting with August Strindberg, events that should be illuminating fade into one long paragraph, unmarred by variation in tone, pace or a charismatic performance. Up to Now is of limited appeal. (Suzanne Black) Augustine’s, 510 0022, until 30 Aug, 3.10pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£6.50–£7.50). The Wake ●●●●● Recreating his father’s wake, impressionist David does his whole family, his wife does them differently, and they both do each other in a bid to find out who ‘did’ Alison. Jonathan Brittain’s award-winning student comedy is a nifty, audience- aware caper riffing on dramatic conventions and constructions of identity. Playful and knowing, the ride is exhilarating but over too abruptly. (Suzanne Black) Bedlam Theatre, 225 9893, until 28 Aug, 8pm, £7 (£5). 26 Aug–9 Sep 2010 THE LIST 51