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Amor de Don Perlimplin con Belisa en su Jardin
(The Love of Don Perlimplin with Belisa in the Garden) - Baraka
C central http://www.cthefestival.com/
Antigone by Jean Anouilh
(in translation) - Captain Theatre
Quaker Meeting House 7 Victoria Terrace EH1 2JL
http://www.captaintheatre.bravehost.com
This classic tale originally by Sophocles was a favorite on both sides
in Nazi occupied France. By cleverly stating the rational point of
view of the oppressor, Jean Anouilh puts across the more subtle message
of human resistance, principle and never giving in despite all odds
to the contrary. Nice, well educated, articulate, clever and good looking
middle class kids play out the story in English to its tragic denoument.
Nice make up, choreography and Antigone will make you weep into the
bargain. Blood, bodies, misery, angst and suffering everywhere by the
end of the show; cathartic, the audience loved it.
Beyond Midnight - Trestle Theatre Company
Pleasance Courtyard http://www.pleasance.co.uk/
The Burlesque Hour
- The Burlesque Hour
The Spiegel Garden http://www.spiegeltent.net/
nb http://www.moirafinucane.com/ gotherama
site has burlesque hour info
One of the best shows you can see at the Spiegletent with a high standard
throughout. What really made it for me was the elderly couple that
walked out at the sight of the almost naked Japanese shock artiste
Yumi Umiumare scampering about at the end of her set. The Fringe is
of course held in Edinburgh where this can still occur. Star of this
show was the surreal Moira Finucane and her incredibly tall stories.
This latterday mistress of monologue will challenge your sense of the
ridiculous to its utmost and leave you chuckling at the memory for
hours. A fine mix of music hall and avant garde, post modernism and
burlesque, served up in the fabulously atmospheric Spiegletent.
Bye-Bye
Barbie - Perspective Theatre Company
Venue: Sweet on the Grassmarket
http://
www.perspectivetheatre.com - dead link
If anyone ever thought drugs were glamourous they should see the scene
where ickle Mary swallows a regurgitated dose of methadone to get high
eeugh! Should be part of every schoolkids moral and social education;
guaranteed to put anyone off shoplifting, drugs, prostitution or going
into ahem, 'care,' till hell freezes over. Held in a conference suite
in the Grassmarket Apex Hotel annexe there was little place for the
audience to hide. Tragedy was piled on tragedy which was piled on pathos,
again and again in this heartrending tale of dismay. Possibly because
of the enforced intimacy of the theatre space, the play reduced the
only other member of the audience, a Japanese lady, to tears by the
finale. We were not sure if we should applaud, cry or shake hands with
the cast after this visceral and voyeuristic journey. A classic Fringe
experience I felt sorry for the cast who put their all into this work,
they deserved a bigger audience.
Cowboy Mouth - Honeytrap
Theatre
http://www.honeytraptheatre.co.uk
venue: Greyfriars Kirk House
More about displaced cowboys from Sam Shepard, this time caught between
the myth of the open range that never was and the new myths of rock
stardom that litter the American trashscape. Its a nice touch to interrupt
the action with guitar riffs and a rock song that are half decent.
Lobster Man may be a reference to an LSD inspired age but his real
life entrance still makes this production worth five gold bats. So
is the rather dead seeming raven (Raymond) clutched by armed, rock-chick
'Cavale.' The raven must give her gothic leanings by todays standards,
(as would a little black eye-liner!) Rock inspired action right down
to the crazy gun-toting groupy and trash littering the stage. Cowboy
Mouth has a trailer trash style and a trailer trash mouth - 'shee..it!'
Includes iconoclastic reflections among rock idols; would a rock'n'roll
jesus have a cowboy-mouth? A compelling one act play that had the audience
open-mouthed and hooked in appreciation throughout. All suitably located
in Greyfriars Kirk House, usually a vagrants drop in centre! (An early
Sam Shepard one act collaboration with Patti Smith from the time they
were both lovers and holed up in the Chelsea Hotel in 1971 - in case
that helps anyone enjoy it more for its cultural, rock and literary
connotations.)
A Clockwork Orange - Godlight Theatre Company
in association with Cahoots Theatre Company
Gilded Balloon Teviot http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk/
Embrace The Vampire - Livewire Theatre
Venue 45 http://www.venue45.org.uk/
Enola - Kandinsky
Smirnoff Baby Belly http://www.smirnoffunderbelly.co.uk/
Forbidden - Theatre Of
The Insane
Holyrood Tavern http://www.rarebirdsprod.com/holyrood.htm
'Almost as good as the old Wednesday Goth nights...'
Quite a little gem of transgressive theatre, unfortunately some critics
thought this also applied to the acting, sets, costumes, production
and direction. However the show did explain the thought processes of
many Americans, also illustrating how their moral senses may easily
be led astray to the point of ultimately ending up on the Jerry Springer
show or invading Iraq. Not for the easily offended or young and impressionable.
Well up to the low life and dark standards expected of the Holyrood
Tavern.
G-City Monologues - Firefly
Productions
Southside http://www.southside-venue.com/index.shtml
'Batman as you have never seen him before,
by these talented yanks...'
http://www.fireflyprod.com
Jordan Gullikson who played the Joker is one of the nicest artists
you will ever meet at the fringe. This show held much promise in its
debunking of a comic book hero. However, humour in monologue at the
fringe is to be evaluated comparatively and some of the monologues
had me yawning in my seat. Got my attention at the start but failed
to keep me riveted throughout. Maybe the annoying lady that kept interjecting
from the audience put the company off its stride, this last truly killed
it for me. Amusing in parts, a curates egg.
Gangrene and Grapes - Upstart Crows
C central http://www.cthefestival.com/
Ladyboys of Bangkok - Meadows Urban Circus Ltd
Meadows Theatre Big Tops The Meadows, Melville Drive EH9
'Fringe faves of ambivalent sexuality, they
usually shop at Tesco's...'
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Mouse on the Stair
C central http://www.cthefestival.com/
'Very much like shagging around in the Goth
scene...'
MEXART 2005 - The Dark
Root
venue: Rocket @ Demarco Roxy Art House
Very much in keeping with the kind of compelling show that we expect
to be associated with Demarco ventures. Part mystery, foreign, terribly
obscure, very much experimental and acted out in an extensive constructed
set that would be at home in a Modern Art School exhibition. Visually
complex, engaging all your senses, you will be kept in rapt attention
without having any idea about the meaning of the ritual being enacted
before your eyes. When you emerge blinking into the sunlight at the
end of the show you will feel a strange sense of fulfillment. Something
you should see whether you enjoy it or not.
Mini-Break - Bess Productions
Smirnoff Underbelly http://www.smirnoffunderbelly.co.uk/
'Especially relevant to all those working in
call centres....'
Nymphs & Shepherds - Black Cab Productions
Sweet Ego http://www.sweet-uk.net/
'Very pervy and in a dark way...'
The Opening - Bad Penny
Theatre
venue: Smirnoff Underbelly
http://www.badpennytheatre.com
A fast paced exploration of mainstream sexuality and mores, or lack
of them. Bad Penny remind us of some of the funniest lays we have ever
had and the sexual archetypes that colonise humanity. You will see
at least one of your singing and dancing ex's portrayed onstage. Witty,
funny, explicit, truthful and quite dark.
Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World - Aireborn
Theatre
Smirnoff Baby Belly http://www.smirnoffunderbelly.co.uk/
(Under 'Life in Show' at the edfringe site.)
de Bernieres' Sunday Morning at the Centre of
the World - A1 Theatre Productions
Rocket @ Demarco Roxy Art House http://www.rocketvenues.com/
Lilita - The ALlieS
Smirnoff Underbelly http://www.smirnoffunderbelly.co.uk/
Lilith - Act Provocateur International
C electric http://www.cthefestival.com/
Pramface - Northern Girl Productions
Gilded Balloon Teviot http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk/
'Have you ever shagged a chav?...'
Rave: The Bacchae of Euripides,
Remixed - Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts - American High School
Theatre Festival http://www.crec.org/rave/index.shtml
venue: Rocket @ Demarco Roxy Art House http://www.rocketvenues.com ::
unlisted in the Fringe Program
Why there were only four performances of this incredible show eludes
me! An amazing evocation of a dark, spiteful, classical greek tragedy.
More than theatre, as 'polyphonic,' deeply compelling and hypnotic
chanting by the bacchae (sexually assertive goth girls) is interwoven
with the narrative of the story, dance, physical theatre and placed
in the context of the conflicting styles of two musical sub-cultures
goth-rock versus hip hop, pretty gothic hedonists versus crass American
high school football heroes. If you saw this live you would forgive
the fact that it is in part deeply rooted in all American football
culture. The global relevance of its Gothic sub-text easily subordinates
the pedestrian, plebeian and ultimately doomed nature of the seemingly
clean cut but essentially banal and evil proponents of popular culture.
With a timeless message on the importance of 'the Dance,' wine, harmony
with nature (contrasted with its devastating forces,) the amorality
and necessity of hedonism and a requirement for toleration in pluralistic
cultures; the play rocked its way to the ultimately messy and deliciously
spite ridden denoument. Featuring choral song to mouth watering bacchae
chorus source music from Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Radiohead and Nirvana.
A satisfying interpretation of a gothic and classical revenge, by demi-god
Dionysius, son of Zeus and played by Joseph J Kamay. One of Euripides'
very last works and unperformed in his life.
True West - Distillery
Theater Company
http://www.douglastaurel.com/truewest.htm
Venue: The Zoo
Sam Shepard classic, '..you bulldog your way into contention, then
you have to follow it up' - that applies to a few things in life. Sibling
rivalry carried on into adulthood, reflections on the American myth
of the cowboy by a screenwriter and his hobo brother. Hustling on the
street gives the latter the edge with a producer if he can hold his
own into screenwriting or get his brother to help. The golf scene is
hilarious and its all about wry humour in this amusing production.
A touching story of the modern cowboy whether at home in the desert,
hunched over a typewriter or stealing toasters for a bet. Shooting
the sh*t about cowboy yarns in a post modern American kitchenscape.
The last night gave the cast a good excuse to trash the typewriter
prop and a few other things. These boys had really good fun in this
latter day kitchen western. It was great fun to see one of the brothers
strangled with a phone cord in the closing scene! Superb acting and
direction all the way through to keep you thoroughly transfixed.
Terrorist! The Musical
- Bad Penny Theatre
venue: Smirnoff Underbelly
http://www.badpennytheatre.com
Definitely one of the worst shows I have ever seen. Hard to understand
how a company that can explore the wittier side of sexuality so successfully
can fall flat on its face with this incredibly more promising subject
matter. This show made me cringe in my front row seat. Full marks for
a good idea but executed poorly and generally failed to rise above
the level of bad taste needed to make it a success. Less discerning
theatre goers may have enjoyed a frisson of 'transgression' but it
failed to make much its needed impact at the higher levels of political
satire. Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Julius Caeser were all funnier
for their real life achievements. This show proves, albeit indirectly,
that to be a successful and funny terrorist you have to be a modern
head of state. A widely reviewed show but quite missable. A classic
'rubbish at the fringe' experience.
Ubu - Theatre Modo
Smirnoff Baby Belly http://www.smirnoffunderbelly.co.uk/
Vaudeville Cabaret
Club
venue: The Bongo Club
http://www.vaudevillecabaretclub.com
http://www.myspace.com/vaudevillecabaretclub
A difficult show to review as it features different acts or runs of
acts on different nights of the week. Some things may be generally
held to be true, its busier at the weekend than the rest of the week.
Its worth dressing up for this event. It already has a following of
fabby dressed up people in corsets and evening dress. They are an alternative
crowd, 'but not as we know it Captain!' More boho, with some definite
post goth tendencies, (if you are local you will spot some gothic ladies
that have seemingly vanished from that scene.) Its more burlesque,
klezmer, gypsy, new wave and post-punk inspired (think Luminescent
Orchestrii, Orchestra Del Sol, Gogol Bordello or Dresden Dolls) than
typically alternative music (goth or industrial.) It has a bit of a
local following, loosely based around other Bongo Club events. Its
an insiders event but very friendly, accessible, lively and one with
a post modernist, sexually charged, lesbigay sub-text. Its an eclectic
'mix of circus, theatre, music, poetry, burlesque' says producer Phyllis
Martin. So, expect a circus ambience and room decor, candlelit tables
but also room to dance with a chill out and mingling area upstairs.
A favoured nightspot of other touring companies, the Aurora Nova crew
were there on the night I attended, the club could not wish for a better
compliment or recommendation than that. You will have fun if you visit,
I certainly did.
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