FESTIVAL THEATRE REVIEWS
NEWLAND Contagious jazz-inflected Western ●●●●●
Love and betrayal jostle for the starring role in this non-traditional Western from the talented cast of M&T Productions. Within the first two minutes of the fast-paced musical, murder, betrayal and cover-ups tumble forth, causing the sheriff of Axeville to flee to up-and-coming Newland, only to discover that home isn’t as simple as where you lay your hat. Performances are subtle and witty, as the cast weave humorous undertones throughout the perfor- mance, taking care to ensure that no poignancy is lost, and the choreography is creative, particularly a top-notch tap dance routine set in the county jail. Slick with musical numbers dripping jazz and mod- ern influences, some pacing is lost in the slower, more earnest songs, but perhaps that’s because the full-cast razzmatazz of faster-paced numbers is so finger-clickingly contagious, and it cannot be said that any of the ensemble is anything less than pitch perfect. Characters are colourful, comedy is plentiful and the reassuringly convivial finale makes this an all-round enjoyable musical journey. (Kirstyn Smith) ■ theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 0845 508 8515, until 25 Aug, 8.15pm, £10 (£8.50).
GOING GREEN THE WONG WAY Joyous but pointless one-woman eco-show ●●●●●
Displaced San Franciscan Katrina Wong is a dedi- cated environmentalist: her school-age performance poetry about the rape of Mother Earth gave way to her first job canvassing for conservationist organisa- tion the Sierra Club; in recent years, she invested in a vegetable oil-powered car. While she has suffered some setbacks – notably the 2006 explosion of the aforementioned vehicle – Wong has remained com- mitted to the cause of eco-conscious living.
Wong is a great performer – cheery, charismatic and not afraid of lampooning some of her earlier antics (a mid-show presentation about the sexi- ness of reusable sanitary products is a particular highlight). The show itself though feels kind of direc- tionless – it’s not consistently funny enough to be stand-up, not dramatic enough to be theatre, and contains no conclusions or revelations that would highlight it as an environmental call to arms. Wong wraps up the show by declaring she has managed to live car-free in LA for four years, and while this is obviously a great achievement for her, it leaves the audience shrugging their shoulders and asking, ‘So what?’ (Niki Boyle) ■ Venue 13, 07074 201313, until 25 Aug, 7pm, £8
AS OF 1.52 GMT ON FRIDAY APRIL 27TH 2012, THIS SHOW HAS NO TITLE Stand-up playwright returns with meta-play monologue ●●●●●
A week after this new play from Daniel Kitson opened, The Telegraph ran a two-star review, describing it as ‘a sorry waste of his undoubted talent – and our time’. Kitson knew someone would do that though. At one point in his one-man play – a breathless, knowing, 80-minute mono- logue about writing a play – he quotes imagined critics: ‘“Dull, self-involved, fucking lazy” - The Indy.’ Kitson is as painfully aware of his cult followers as his haters, and both groups appear in the script. ‘“I’m thinking. I’m laughing. I’m crying – I’ve just been Kitsonned!”,’ gushes another, played, like everyone else in the script, by Kitson, who sits for the entire show behind a desk on an empty stage, reading from a stack of papers. He’s right, too, his new work does involve plenty pleasantly mind-bending, audience-writer-
reviewer reflexivity, and more laughter than previous plays. But any crying in the foyer afterwards is notable by its absence – as if Kitson is tired of being tagged as a sentimental peddler of what he calls, stories about ‘the ever-present sorrow of heartbreak’.
So while his story of a commitment-shy man addicted to shedding his belongings is undeniably touching, much of the poignancy of previous plays, The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church or It’s Always Right Now, Until it’s Later has gone. Instead, he has replaced it with more of his trade- mark snortingly good, now-with-added-slapstick humour.
The media digs, the sad old men, the lonely young women, the ‘staggering level of the writing’ (again, his words) – they’re all still there, only in a repackaged, more playful format, which he admits he chose partly to challenge himself. Storytelling, with a self-critical and savvy twist – to quote Kitson on himself, yes, it looks like he’s ‘slam-dunked it’ again. (Claire Sawers) ■ Traverse Theatre, 228 1404, until 26 Aug, times vary, £12 (£10).
PLANET LEM Sci-fi spectacle impresses but lacks story ●●●●●
Based on the science fiction stories of the Polish writer Stanislaw Lem, Teatr Biuro Podrozy’s new outdoor extravaganza, Planet Lem, presents the tale of a nightmarish dystopia, where machines rule peo- ple and people are completely reliant on machines. Completely unique in style, look and story, Planet Lem’s strength lies in its staging, its use of physi- cality and costume. But while the piece looks and sounds very good, with some interesting narration and industrial music, the plot and storyline of a man trying to fight back against his robot overlords seem to get lost in scenes of movement that, while impressive, do little to bring the story to its explosive conclusion. Featuring some impressive moving stag- ing, Teatr Biuro Podrozy’s tale of revolution will reso- nate with those familiar with Lem’s books, as those who haven’t been acquainted with his work might find this piece confusing. (Amy Taylor) ■ Old College Quad, 226 0000, until 26 Aug, 9pm, £13–£15 (£10–£13).
134 THE LIST 23 Aug–20 Sep 2012