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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre : Reviews |
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Theatre listings > Festen. - Tour. Director - Rufus Norris Adaptor - David Eldridge from the Dogme film and play of the same name by Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov and Bo hr. Hansen. Designer - Ian MacNeil. Costume Design - Joan Wadge. Lighting Design - Jean Kalman. Music - Orlando Gough. Sound Designer - Paul Arditti. Company - Almedia Theatre Company Company Website. Cast - here . Venue - Theatre Royal Glasgow 0141 240 1133. Dates - 27 March 1 April at 7:30pm Thurs & Sat Mats at 2:30pm. 2006 Tour Dates and Times - here . There is a Broadway production also opening 23 March 2006. Seen to review at Theatre Royal Glasgow on 27 March 2006. Reviewer - Tom Tàbori. Brilliantly powerful core, less brilliantly encased. David Eldridge sticks by Dogme's reassertion of the merit of truthful storytelling (though this they inherited from Danes Vinterberg, von Trier, Jacobsen and Levring) but discards Dogme's bare aesthetics principle. The effect of this halfway harnessing is a brilliantly powerful core, less brilliantly encased.
In a Danish country house a family reunites to celebrate its patriarch's birthday, and inside the public sphere of the family Christian begins his revolution against his rapist father's dominion. His quest to reveal the truth about he and his siblings' childhood is met by the family's reactionary fear of rocking the boat. The power of the regime becomes more and more tangible as the family clusters round to defend its father from revelatory blows the plot lands. The desperation of these songs of facade grows and grows from birthday songs to racist choruses and are brilliantly directed. Their weight adds to the repressive feel of the play that underlines the nobility of Christian's struggle. Festen works very well on stage and Norris and Eldridge do a fine job of bringing it into the tense space common space between audience and actors. Yet theatre helplessly does that anyway. Take the screen away that Festen was originally produced behind and it inevitably spills forth onto the audience's laps. The sound effects of dripping water and child's voice intermittently haunts the performance and seems unnecessary kitsch beside an already gripping work. If the purism that motivates this work is ditched then adaptation could have gone much further, as it is it is successful middle of the road. © Tom Tàbori 27 March 2006 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast - Christian - Christian Coulson, Mette - Lucianne Mitchell, Lars - Will Barton, Helene - Miranda Foster, Else - Belinda Sinclair, Helge - Rupert Frazer, Pia - Camilla Arfwedson, Helmut - David Beames, Grandfather - Walter Hall, Poul - Kim and Gbatokai - Mark Theodore. 2006 Tour Details of The Almeida Theatre's production of Festen. Tour begins 30 Jan - 17 Feb at Birmingham Rep Theatre 0121 236 4455. 20 - 25 March at Norwich Theatre Royal 01603 630 000. 27 Feb - 4 March at Bath Theatre Royal 01225 448 844. 6 - 11 March at Woking New Victoria Theatre 01483 545 900. 13 - 18 March at Cardiff New Theatre 029 2087 8889. 20 - 25 March at Windsor Theatre Royal 01753 853 888. 27 March - 4 April at 7:30pm, Thurs & Sat mats at 2:30pm Glasgow Theatre Royal 0141 240 1133. 3 - 8 April at 7:30pm Thurs & Sat mats at 2:30pm Mold Clwyd Theatre 01352 755 114. 10 - 15 April at 7:45pm Thurs & Sat mats at 2:30pm Brighton Theatre Royal 01273 328 488. 17 - 22 at 7:35pm Thurs & Sat mats at 2:30pm Cambridge Arts Theatre 01223 503 333. 24 - 29 April at 7:45pm Thurs & Sat mats at 2:30pm Surrey Richmond Theatre 020 8940 0088. 1 - 6 May at 7:30pm also Wed at 2pm Sat at 2:30pm Nottingham Theatre Royal 01159 895 541. 8 - 13 May at 7:30pm Wed & Sat at 2:30pm Malvern Festival Theatre 01684 892 277. 15 - 20 May at 7:30pm Wed & Sat at 2:30pm Salford Lowry Theatre 0870 787 5780. 22 - 27 May 7:30pm Thurs & Sat at 2:30pm Plymouth Theatre Royal 01752 267 222. Tour ends. The Broadway production runs from 23rd March at the Music Box Theatre - please see www.kenwright.com for full details. 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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