{FRONT} Endurance
KEEP ON MOVIN’
Longer, crazy and tiring, Niki Boyle investigates the shows that test the endurance of both performers and audiences
F or some the Fringe whirlwind of bustling crowds and back-to-back shows is not intense or involved enough. In the past, these die-hards could be spotted in the audience for one of Mark Watson’s 24-hour comedy gigs; this year, you’re likely to find them at bluemouth inc’s Dance Marathon.
‘It’s inspired by the phenomenon that happened in North America during the Depression era,’ says Stephen O’Connell, one of the show’s creators. ‘These events would go on for 30 days, with a ten-minute break every hour or so for competitors to use the washroom or sleep or eat.’ Bluemouth’s marathon, though energetic, is less gruelling. ‘We are using that conceit, that framework, but anyone can take part – we’ve had all ranges of ages, from young kids to seniors in their 70s, who have danced the entire night and made it to the final elimination.’
The concept for the show is simple: audience members have to keep their feet moving for three to four hours, or face elimination by a roller-skating ref. Upon arrival each competitor is paired with a stranger. However, not all the dancers are punters, some are professional ringers put in place by bluemouth to keep things interesting, while others are moonlighting Fringe performers, in attendance to deliver a snippet of their own show. Once again, O’Connell cites historical precedent. ‘These 1930s competitions were part of the circuit for out-of-work vaudeville actors, so they’d be brought in as embedded performers.
18 THE LIST 4–11 Aug 2011
Each one of them would do their little bit, like tap dance or sing or do a monologue. And we take that aspect on as well, where we have these “spotlight” moments that highlight some local performers we’re working with . . . it really adds a local flair to what’s going on.’ Another similarly varied production is Hotel Medea. Created by Anglo-Brazilian theatre company Zecora Ura, the show is a modern retelling of the ancient Greek revenge myth, in which the eponymous female protagonist takes revenge on her husband Jason (he of Golden Fleece fame) after he betrays her for a woman of higher standing. In Zecora Ura’s update the story is told through the mixed media of live DJ sets, food fights, documentary footage, hot chocolate, CCTV and half-naked dancers – all crammed into an epic six-hour overnight performance that begins at midnight and continues until dawn. Those with enough stamina to stay the course will be rewarded with breakfast as part of the ticket price.
Both Hotel Medea and Dance Marathon occupy the more extreme end of the endurance spectrum. Elsewhere on the scale are productions that demand massive physical exertion on the part of the performers. Rock the Ballet, is a high-tempo, contemporary dance show set to music by, among others, Prince and Lenny Kravitz. Circolombia features athletic acrobats drawn from disadvantaged urban areas in South America and schooled in the rigours of circus performance. Closer to home, parkour pioneers for example,
L A V I T S E F
3RUN will be vaulting, sprinting and back- flipping around the Udderbelly as part of their Free Run show. The Edinburgh International Festival has also scattered some punishing performances throughout its programme. Semiramide is a Babylonian opera that takes on the grand themes of politics, lust and violence: it clocks in at four hours and twenty minutes. Director Tim Supple’s dark and sinister production of the Arabian One Thousand and One Nights is split into two three-hour shows, which can either be enjoyed as separate performances on consecutive nights or as one immersive, day- swallowing experience. Wu Hsing-kuo’s Mandarin adaptation of King Lear lasts only one hour and fifty minutes, however Wu (58) is taking on Shakespeare’s monumental tragedy as a one-man show.
The point of physically taxing shows, as Dance Marathon’s O’Connell sees it, is to break down barriers between the audience and the performers. ‘We experimented with different lengths of shows – we did a six-hour show, even a twelve-hour show at one point – but we realised with a four-hour performance that the audience naturally peaks around three quarters of the way through; after that natural fatigue that sets in. People’s guards are down a little bit . . . they have a really sort of unique relationship to the performance because they’ve been immersed in it for so long.’
Dance Marathon, Traverse @ Lyceum Rehearsal Room, 228 1404, 3–14 Aug (not 4, 8, 11), 7.15pm, meet at Traverse Theatre, £12–19 (£6–13); Hotel Medea, Summerhall, 226 0000, 5, 6, 12, 13, 19. 20, 25, 26 & 27 Aug, 23.45pm, £29.50 (£25). See edfringe.com and eif.co.uk for details of other shows.