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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Reviews |
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The Night Before Christmas
Gary and Simon, Donald Munro and Thomas Gemmell, are mysteriously visited in their illicit warehouse by an elf, Alan Bryant, on Christmas Eve. Surprisingly the pair decide that a little green man popping in to a warehouse full of goods off the back of a lorry on Christmas Eve just ain't normal behaviour, so they tie him up and question him. After much prodding and probing, they find out he's an elf from Hartlepool, whose job is to sprinkle all the children's toys with a feel good Christmas powder. However, somewhere along the way elves have become addicted to this powder, and even have the track marks on the arm to prove so. Is he a real elf, or a festive fraudster? This is a bizarre offering from a promising writer gone daft. It's neither a panto for adults, nor a comedy, nor a parody on traditional Christmas spirit. Maybe it's a hodge podge of every ingredient. Who knows? The arrival of Abigail Gemmell's Cherry, the foul mouthed hooker adds a possible tangent to the fading scenario, but her character is too contrived and one dimensional to add sustained interest. Gemmell's Cherry is also too inconsistent to be convincing, ranging from angry venomous whore to happy go luck drunk in a few minutes. The character of Simon is highly cynical; bagging everything about Christmas as capitalist nonsense, and is highly irritating. Gemmel's acting is worthy but let down by inadequate material. Revealing later that he is gay is the oldest cliché in the book and again indicates a lack of flair in the story. The script is ridden with gratuitous profanities. Gratuitous because the rest of the dialogue is lazily written and lacks spark. There are some laughs along the way, but not nearly enough to constitute what probably is intended as a comedy of sorts. In some way or other it seems like Neilson wants to explore what Christmas means to adults. "Is Christmas changing, or is it us?" is the question aired by Simon. Somewhere in between, the Elf symbolises the gulf between the innocence of childhood Christmas fantasies, and the hardened reality of the commercial Christmas for adults with personal and financial problems. The main problem with The Night Before Christmas is that it doesn't know what it wants to be, and the result is a Christmas pudding spoiled by too many ingredients. © David Stanners 6 December 2002 - published on EdinburghGuide.com *Anthony's Neilson other plays reviewed by EdinburghGuide. Stitching - UK Tour 2002 includes too differing reviews seen at Fringe in August /Glasgow in October. The Censor - Dundee Rep 2002. and reviews of some of the Dundee Rep productions of The Night Before Christmas which is often the case with Neilson was responded to differently by other critics. Nielson certainly draws varying reactions. EdinburghGuide Reviews of other Theatre Fusion Productions Closer 2002 Blue Remembered Hills 2001 Cast: Gary - Donald Munro Simon - Thomas Gemmell Elf - Alan Bryant Cherry - Abigail Gemmell Theatre Fusion's production of The Night Before Christmas. (Not suitable for children, or elves). 5 Dec at 10pm East Kilbride Arts Centre 01355 261000. 6 - 7 Dec at 8pm Edinburgh The Traverse, 0131 228 1404. 8 Dec at 6pm Edinburgh The Traverse 0131 228 1404. 12 - 14 and 19 - 21 Dec at 9.30pm and 13 and 20 Dec at 7pm Glasgow The Tron Theatre, 0141 552 4267. 18 Dec at 8pm Dunkeld Birnam Institute 01350 727674. 27 Dec at 8pm Ullapool MacPhail Centre 01854 613336. End of tour .
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