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Theatre listings > Us. Part of Glasgay! Festival 2004 and also going to London.. Written and Performed by Tim Miller. His home page here. Interview with Tim here. Venue Seen CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD. (0141) 332 7521, Dates Run ended in Glasgay Tim's show is going to London's Drill Hall, 17-27 Nov (not Mon 22 or Tues 23). Reviewer Sarah Jane Murray. Fabulously frothy, bitingly acerbic. You’ve got a solitary suitcase, and a one-way ticket booked out of your home country. So, what do you pack, and – more significantly – what do you leave behind? For Californian performance artist Tim Miller, this seemingly devil’s advocate question is fast becoming all-too real. For Miller and his partner of ten years, Alistair, shall soon be forced out of America, once Alistair’s visa expires. As the government refuse to recognise gay marriages, the prospect of immigrating to the UK looms ever closer. And – rightly – Tim is a little peeved. The empty suitcase becomes Miller’s centrepiece for a show that flies a flag of Broadway cast albums, rather than the regularly loaded Stars and Stripes. While musicals may provide a colourful journal of his coming out, what importance does the American flag have, to a man denied basic human rights by his own country? Miller organises the highly-provocative show around two questions: ‘What is wrong with us?’, and – in tribute to a pre-pubescent lust for Mark Lester, the lead in Oliver! – ‘Where is love?’ The former question should be redirected from homosexual culture as a whole, pointing the finger instead at those determined to pass a right in the constitution to permanently disallow gay marriage. As for the latter, love is clearly to be found in the home of Tim and Alistair – if one were ever to feel disillusioned about the possibility of true love, they should spend an hour in this man’s company. The affection with which he speaks of his lover is staggering. Miller’s show Us is both gloriously celebratory – of Broadway, of Alistair, of National Geographic – and desperately shattering. When he describes standing in the centre of the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls, witnessing a timely tug-of-war between the Americans and Canadians, the breadth of injustice, the disappointment he feels with his own country, washes over his audience. For, while Miller’s story is acutely personal, he puts himself forward as a spokesman for the cause. A qualified spokesperson, an engaging spokesperson, and most definitely an American spokesperson. This show bites at the apple, picks at the pie, chews it up a little, and then spits it right out again. While Miller’s resentment for his country’s government are great, he cannot, and will not, tear himself away from his roots. This profoundly politicised show is also fabulously frothy and bitingly acerbic. In the great tradition of musical tragi-heroes, Miller’s oppression becomes the flesh for his anthem: sing out, Tim. ©Sarah Jane Murray 12 November 2004 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Sarah Jane Murray's interview with Tim Miller here. Tim's show is going to London's Drill Hall, 17-27 Nov (not Mon 22 or Tues 23). 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. Theatre listings >
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