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 Musicals & Opera |
Rating Guide Oh what a lovely war (page 111) Drams 
for the uphill trek afterwards to the High KtreetCompany Leicestershire Youth Arts Venue St Ann's Community Centre (Venue 65) Address South Gray's Close, Cowgate Reviewer Iain Gilmour  Youth
Arts are one of the stalwarts of the Fringe, notching up a near quarter century
of visits with enterprising musical and dramatic productions.This streamlined production of Joan Littlewood's satirical view of the First World War is no exception. The hour-long production achieves close to professional standards with a teenage cast of a dozen or so girls and three boys. Realistic sound effects and minimal scenery move the action effortlessly along. Parodies of popular patriotic songs contrast with the bombastic enunciation of war aims and battle plans, punctuated by bleak announcements of horrendous casualty figures. The thought provoking staging is all the more notable in view of the financial sacrifice of the participants. Youth Arts is the solitary survivor of the education-authority backed groups who participated in Fringe. Others out dropped as official funding was cut. Youth Arts carried on, largely through the determination of Jim Dutton and his close associates. This year's visit cost the group £56,000 - and half of that comes from the youngsters themselves. Such effort in itself may seem worthy of audience support. The quality of the end product more than justifies it. © Iain Gilmour 14 August 2003. Published on www.EdinburghGuide.com Run: August 12-23 Web contact www.yal.org.uk
Pass the port (page 111) Drams 0 - None needed! Excellent. Performers Susan Flannery & Michael Lunts Director Roger Leach Venue Hill Street Theatre (Venue 41) Address 19 Hill Street Reviewer Iain Gilmour
Susan Flannery and Michael Lunts kept a near-capacity house entertained and highly amused for virtually non-stop 80-minute performance. Billed as the premiere of a nautical comedy, Pass the Port is the first staging of Noel Coward's poem P & O 1930, a period piece about first-class life, and an incidental death, aboard a liner bound from Shanghai to Tilbury. Coward's verse, laced with witty, often wickedly accurate, verbal pictures of the passengers' manners, hopes and foibles is interspersed with solo songs and duets by the two performers. Their stance and facial gestures captured the essence of the characters portrayed. Only four of the songs -- the opening Sail Away, Why do the wrong People travel, Marvellous Party and of course "Mad dogs and Englishmen" - are by the master himself, with the remainder ranging through Novello, the Gershwins and Addinsell to Puccini, Offenbach and Kurt Weill. It is easy to imagine how Coward would have dismissed such a pastiche but the mixture worked. Susan Flannery's early training as an opera singer shone through in O mio Babbino Caro with authentic reflection of the Joyce Grenfell original in Dear Françcois. Michael Lunts provided the main narration and musical accompaniment at the piano throughout. His version of Mad Dogs was particularly noteworthy. Staging was minimal but effective - ship's rail at front stage, a sun lounger, two battered suitcases, and a hat stand. Costume changes were limited mainly to various hats, though Susan Flannery managed some remarkably swift dress changes. The late afternoon timing means this show can be squeezed into most busy Festival schedules. Grab a ticket while there's still a chance. © Iain Gilmour. 11 August 2003 - Published on www.EdinburghGuide.com Run: August 1-12, 14-24
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