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God's New Frock
- Tour & World Premiere.
Produced in Association with Glasgay.
Playwright & Performer - John Clifford.
Director - Lorenzo Mele.
Costume Designer -Morna Baxter .
Composer/Musician - Robert Burlin.
Company Details - Teatro do Mundo see John Clifford's website
with information and contact details.
Venue - Traverse Theatre Edinburgh 0131 228 1404 In Cambridge
St near the Usher Hall
Online booking and lot of info at www.traverse.co.uk
and Virtual Traverse Site.
.
Dates - 16 - 19 April at 7:30pm.
Tour Dates and Times - here .
Seen to review at Traverse Theatre Edinburgh.
Run Time - 1 hours 15 mins no Interval.
Reviewer - Thelma Good.
Something in between.
What are we? And what is a divine being? And why does William, who is
not just William, find these questions so fascinating and troublesome?
He's not the only one who's struggling to work out who they are, it's
a quandary most of us never wholly address.
The grown up William, or John Clifford as we know
him, comes in dressed much as he is in real life. In trousers with a loose
fit below his hips, a scoop necked top and visible below his conventional
haircut dangling earrings. Behind the high bar chair there's are rails
with garments on hangers, mainly dresses, all designed with flair, Clifford
selects one pair of shoes from the footwear arranged underneath. Slipping
on the selected high heels, he lets us see his reality - not man, not
woman but something in between.
The production has a lyrical musical soundscape from Robert Burlin, and
tables on the stage each with a bowl with a floating flower placed inside
lit circles of tea lights. Clifford's presentation is like a confessional
lecture-cabaret. It's unusual and disconcerting but delivered with some
charm. Not many could get away with the rather repetitive structure Clifford
employs. Returning to some points, though like the storyteller's three
sons, daughters, tasks etc., these repeats feel a bit forced.
Using the microphone at times to alter the amplification is a relief from
the tone of voice which Clifford uses. Whispery, overly rhythmic and softly
pitched, it's creepily remeniscent of a hypnotist. It's a performance
device which undermines his generally out of the closet and seeing things
clearly and freely text.
Like most who are attracted to the feminine he doesn't seem to see they
can be harpies and bullies, and b-awful people just like their masculine
counterparts. It's clear he's not going for the simplistic feminine good,
masculine bad, twaddle but his piece doesn't quite fully develop the complexity
of our natures created some believe in the image of the infinite deity.
But containing thought provoking lecture theatre, confessional performance
and riffs of cabaret this something in between piece still attracts. Interestingly
despite its personal basis, God's New Frock doesn't feel like a therapy
theatre.
© Thelma Good 16 April 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
John Clifford is a Scottish based playwright
who has written about 64 scripts for a variety of media including Ines
De Castro (opera, play and radio), Losing Venice (which recently recieved
an Traverse aniversary reading), The
Queen of Spades, The
Haunted Man and the presently touring Great Expectations - Unicorn
Theatre. Present work includes adapting George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia
for West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and Teatre Barea in Barcelona. He
is Professor of Theatre at Queen Margaret College Edinburgh. See John
Clifford's website for more
info.
The text of God's New Frock by John Clifford will be published shortly
in the next Chapman, Scotland's Literary Magazine. Email
contact for Chapman.
Any enquires about performance should be emailed
to Alan Brodie Representation or +44 (0) 20 7917 2871.
Tour Details of Teatro do Mundo production
of God's New Frock.
Tour begins
12 - 15 March at 7.30pm Glasgow Tron Theatre 0141 552 4267
16 - 19 April at 7:30pm at Edinburgh Traverse Theatre
0131 228 1404
Tour ends
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