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Lords of The Railway
(Höchste Eisenhahn) - Tour & Scottish Premiere.
Part of the 2004 Bank Of Scotland Children's International Theatre Festival
organised by Imaginate.
Idea - Peter Mueller.
Creators - The Team.
Director - Markus Joss.
Designer - Christian Werdun.
Company - Theater Handgemenge (Germany) Company
Website (worth a look with images, video and English pages).
Tour Dates and venues - Here.
Seen to review on 28 May 2004 at Traverse Theatre Edinburgh.
Run Time - 70mins no interval.
Suggested Age - 6+ years to adults of many years (EdinburghGuide
would suggest its for 8 and up with strongest appeal for adults).
Reviewer - Thelma Good.
Needs adults to enjoy it too.
Two grown men Uwe, Peter Mueller a thin angular man and Dirk, Pierre
Schaefer, a bigger more rounded man meet regularly to escape their
daily lives. Their escape is a model railway which they are gradually
adding to. They started with the track and trains but now there are blocks
which can be arranged in different ways to suggest city and village stations
and well as very modern buildings.
Both are meticulous, lining up their screwdrivers, arranging the buildings
and people just so. There's an entertaining dispute over a grazing cow
that runs throughout. They are friends but there's a rivalry between them.
The introduction of a new building to the layout results in their exploring
the lives of the people who have built it, Thomas their son who has been
staying with Aunt Gwendolyn and Hopplepopple. Hopplepopple left behind
on the train and carried off to Poland so Thomas's father sets off to
Berlin to find a replacement, not an easy task. With tiny little model
people and even tiner Hopplepopple placed in the train with tweezers and
the regulation of running the trains to time the production has much detail
and amusing moments. More appealing initially to adults, it is their amusement
that leads some of the children to stick with the rather lengthy time
we watch Uwe and Dirk playing with their trains before we head off into
a story of Hans Fallada's engrossingly told.
This subtle crafting, reminiscent of Jacque Tati's observation comedy,
does demand a good view of the railway set, one not easily achieved in
Traverse 2 with Imaginate's bizarrely uncomfortable seating, the Tron
auditorium will be better. Through there are the tunes, the dusting of
the tracks to "It's A Man's World" and of course "Chattanooga
Choo-choo". The actors Schaefer and Mueller (who has much
of the flavour and attractive whacky languor of England's Chris Langholm)
are a delight to watch, particularly if you know folk like Dirk and Uwe
or even know that's yourself when you go down to the cellar, up to the
loft or off to the garden shed.
It's a flawed piece if you think that adult theatre and children's theatre
are two separate things. The Lords Of The Railway works if you have as
many adults as children, some who have come to see it for themselves.
As a first introduction to this company's varied work I hope this not
the last time Theater Handgemenge bring one of their productions to Scotland.
Now I'm off to get out my trains and my doll house to escape - once a
child, always a child I say!
© Thelma Good 11 May 2004. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
More
info and reviews on the annual Bank of Scotland Children's International
Theatre Festival.
Note on Theater Hendemenge - This Germany puppet theatre has had a major
influence in Germany in the last 15 years and is a loose association of
artists.
Website on Hans Fallada.
Tour Dates for Edinburgh and Glasgow.
At Traverse Theatre. Family Perfomances 28 May at 3pm.
29 May at 10:30am & 1:45pm.
Tours to Glasgow Tron Theatre 0141 552 4267.
Family Perfomances 3 June at 1:30pm, 4 & 5 June at 10:30pm.
Theatre Editor, Thelma
Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com
Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted
for any errors or omissions.
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