Rating
Guide
None = Unmissable
= Unwatchable
Darling
Bea
Drams
Venue The
Gilded Balloon ( Venue 36) at Tailors Hall
Address Cowgate
Reviewer Thelma
Good
This play is a disappointment. Beatrice Lillie, who Noel Coward said
was "the funniest woman in the world" is waiting to do her final film
appearance in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" as Mrs Meers. The venue isn't
right for the play and it felt like the production wasn't ready to be
seen. (I saw it on its second performance) It might improve. Only in
the play's more tragic moments did I believe what I was seeing. The
play has a second actor playing her companion but he is underused in
a script which feels like a one woman play and makes the usual mistakes.
On till 28th not 8th or 22nd.
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Decky
does a Bronco
Drams None
Venue Scotland
Yard Playground (Venue 172)
Address George
V Park, Canonmills (off Eyre Place)
Reviewer Thelma
Good
This play, by David
Maxwell, set in a lovely park, centres on the swings where 5 young boys
play around, and challenge each other and themselves to behave like
hard men. There is a cast of 8 excellent male actors, some of whom played
the adult version of their younger selves. They are all trained acrobats,
and use their muscles and the swings to their full potentials.
In the open air we sat in a circle, yes folks, you get a stool to sit
on! No walking around for the audience this time. We were taken back
to a world of boyhood where the playground taunts and swift exchanges
began to shape the boys into men. Decky, supposedly the dim one, comes
out with some wise observations which show he may be dim but he has
native wit. The script has humour and interesting insights, watch out
for the one about irony in schools. Most open air productions take us
into flights of fantasy, this one is wonderfully rooted in reality.
I enjoyed being let into what had been, up till now, a world I only
saw the occasional glimpse of. The world of the young gang of boys who
"just hang out with one another". The play shows us what happens when
boys try to become men without realising that grown men can feel too.
I forgot that we were watching adult actors and saw the confusion and
isolation of boyhood which can make emotionally hardened men. As Decky
said, "It's not nice to laugh at those who arenae as good as you."
Ben Harrison skilfully directs this play which shows that being a boy
is a difficult thing in our culture where the generations keep separate
from one another, and small boys are thrust out to grow up on their
own. The production was, as we have come to expect from Grid Iron, very
well put together. If you like theatre in the open air and wonder how
small boys sometimes grow into boy-men, this play will give you lots
to think about especially when you next see a gang of small boys at
the swings.
Until 26th, not Sundays, also matinees 12th, 18th, 26th. Then on tour
round Scottish parks till mid-September.
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The Directing
Exam
Drams
Venue Crowne Plaza Hotel (Venue 39)
Address 80 High Street
Reviewer Thelma Good
I thought this might be interesting and there were a very few of the
16, yes 16!, short pieces which worked for me. They were Good Morning,
One Off, One On and to a lesser extent Synchronised Swimming. But on
the whole there were a lot of the same techniques used again and again,
and a monotony of pace which made me wonder if the student cast and
directors, or, more seriously, the staff of School of the Science of
Acting, were on downers or rehearsed with a metronome. Maybe that's
what happens when you try to make acting a science. I don't think it
is one, it should be magic.
They say their aim is to create interesting theatre. Well I think they
need to use their imaginations more, reduce the amount of props and
scenery and learn about varying the pace. If they'd done fewer and more
varied pieces which flowed into one another I'd have been much happier.
Seen on first day by the way.
Till 28th
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A Doll's House
Drams
None
Venue Royal Lyceum
(Venue 12)
Address Grindlay
Street
Reviewer Colin
Donati
This was a play
banned in its day for a radical ending, now acclaimed as one of the
first modern feminist
statements.
It is Christmas in the Helmer household. Happy Nora, kept like a doll
by her rich but doting husband, is confronted with a guilty secret from
her past that will utterly destroy everything. The letter that contains
the secret sits like a bird caged in the front door mail box and she
doesn't have the key. 'Don't let him open it!' emotes the audience.
'Throw it into the stove when he isn't looking! Anything!' ...anything
but let the secret out! Yet, finally the secret has come out and...
But if you ain't seen it, that would be telling. This perfectly paced
and psychologically balanced production, by realising a world which
makes Nora's (potentially outdated) dilemma wholly plausible, keeps
the stakes high.
There is not a single emotion false or forced against the script; no
black-and-white interpretation of characters. And the result? Instantly
it's clear there's nothing outdated in the roots her dilemma whatsoever.
The 'feminism' is not simply to do with liberation from a male yoke.
(Torvald is the least free of all of course.)
This is a play about money. It is about law. It is about how moral values
bear only incidental or accidental relevance to reality. And it is about
how these simple forces can break a generous spirit. This is no less
true today than in 'Nora's' day. For me, the greatest coup this production
is to have conjured this recognition and brought it home. The sheer
normality of the relationship between Henrik Mestad's Torvald and Anneke
von der Lippe's Nora enforces our wholesale identification with the
characters. Stripped of histrionics, the moments of greatest power come
when we realise the couple are talking not like tormented ideologues,
but two reasonable human beings with a depth of history, happiness and
pain. This agonising identification only serves to bring home the depth
of courage it takes truly to make a stand against the strictures and
social falsity Ibsen saw rooted in money and law.
At heart, there are gey few Nora's amongst us even now I'll bet!
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The
Donkey Show
Drams
(Very Good)
Venue Club Pleasance (Venue 23)
Address 1 Bristo Square
Reviewer Colin Donati
Whether
or not you think it is deserved, there’s no doubt the Donkey Show is
one of this year’s biggest sensations on the Fringe. The idea is gorgeously
simple. In short, this New York based troupe set something resembling
A Midsummer Night’s Dream in ‘Club Oberon’ complete with genuine DJ,
homoerotic dancers and a masked Titania wearing little more than hotpants
and a pair of butterflies.
Using little dialogue, Shakespeare’s tale of confused attractions in
the fairy wood is retold in a segued club mix of 70’s disco tracks.
It makes a fantastic spectacle and is lots of fun, but whether it is
good theatre is open to debate. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Some will find
it manipulative in the worst sense. I have to say I enjoyed it and,
through all the glazz, there were a few decidedly recognisable experiences.
By the way, you’ll probably really enjoy this one best, if you take
a partner along, though that’s not essential.One not to be missed.
Runs till the 27th (not 15th or 22nd), at 19.40hrs (additional show
at 23.15 selected nights)
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Double
Lives
Drams None
Venue Netherbow Theatre (Venue 30)
Address 43 The High St
Reviewer Thelma Good
Double Lives is a double bill of two fascinating plays, Wendlebury Day
by David Henry Wilson and Lady Bracknell's Confinement by Paul Doust.
They continue to the 2nd of September.
In the first we meet Tom Wendlebury who discovering he is "all too clearly
flesh and blood" after a visit to the doctor at the age of sixty introduces
to his lives, some rich in fantasy and one dark in its content. Finlay
McLean takes us through his character's mind and life with quick flashes
of dialogue. Giving us the many people who meet Tom either in fact or
in his imagination including the Queen who has an electrifying experience
when she knights Tom for his around the world voyage! By turn funny
and macabre, we come to learn a lot about the world of someone who decides
he needs to create or disintegrate. An intriguing play performed by
an excellent actor.
Lady Bracknell's Confinement is a delight. John Shedden makes Lady Bracknell
come alive as he speaks lines with a wit worthy of Wilde. If you have
ever wanted to know more about Lady Bracknell and her connection to
Earnest and Gwendolyn, this play provides a wonderful tour through the
events which shape her. As Lady Bracknell says "I've always found Fate
is strangely unpredictable," in this play its effects are richly satisfying
and very funny. And John Shedden plays it with all the authority and
extraordinariness of a Lady who makes her own life.
Till 2nd Sept
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Eternal
Peace Asylum
Drams
None needed
Venue Augustine's (Venue 152)
Address George IV Bridge
Reviewer Thelma Good
Instantly
the play was underway and Dead Pan came forward to tell us to "Please
adjust your prejudices". The four characters are trying to start an
independent broadcasting set up in an increasingly unstable state. The
boss is white and the other executives are two black and one coloured.
They all still have prejudices about each other. And they all wear the
same style of suit though the white's is a little different.
Shot through with insight into business, the retreating aid agencies
and the mistrust which percolates through a rapidly changing political
situation this play was great to watch. We laughed and worried about
how things would turn out as the dialogue moved us along with wit and
barbed darts for the characters on stage and us in the audience.
Eternal Peace Asylum is an excellent contemporary satirical play written
by Wiina Msamati He is also one of the talented actors, the others are
Craig Peter, Zane E. Lucas and Kevin Hanssen, all four from the Over
the Edge theatre company from Zimbabwe. This play has been reworked
to take into account the recent upheavals in that country, making it
bang up to date and very keenly honed. Try not to be a weed and go to
experience these exciting actors in this very engaging play reflecting
life "in interesting times."
Plays 19th,22nd, 24th, 26th, 28th at 16:35.
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Ever After
Drams Not
needed here
Venue Rocket
@ St John's Hall (Venue 126)
Address West
End, Princes St
Reviewer Thelma
Good
Finding
a brilliant new play by new writer at the festival does happen, finding
one that is written
by two writers Nick Harrop and Matt Morrison together is more surprising.
Everafter starts seemingly realistically with lines which are so keenly
written that we learn about the characters effortlessly. One of the
basic arts of play writing, which I wish some more experienced playwrights
would learn! As the play proceeds it begins to develop stylised elements
leading to a very dramatic and satisfying last scene. Structurally this
play is extremely interesting and is a well thought out production with
a fine eye for detail.
The part of a cold, emotionally-dead man who was also hesitant, a particularly
difficult role, was skilfully played by John Bethell. The rest of the
cast, Dan Starkey, Imogen Felton, Anna Owen-Davies and Olly Walters
displayed equal ability and confidence in this excellent production
directed by Kate McNaughton and Nick Harrop. I saw it on it's first
night and it was stunning.
This is a new company of young actors, writers and directors which I
am sure will go on to make more exciting and extraordinary plays and
develop further this very interesting style of drama, which I have not
seen so well developed before. Go and see this if you are interested
in original theatre.
Runs to 26th.
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Eve's Tail
Drams
for now, less later
Venue Rocket @ Theatre Arts Centre (16)
Address 10 Davie Street
Reviewer Thelma Good
Go to Dr Gender's class and experience Californian-style therapy for
40 minutes. Physically good movement, a funny script written by the
actor and an engaging delivery are the pluses of this piece.
I saw this in preview, (I asked permission) and I'm sure that as the
run goes on Laura Bozanich will develop this short performance. She
interacted with the audience skilfully so I'm sure the show you see,
as the run progresses, will warm up a lot.
Runs till 26th Not 13th
