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American Football - Act
Provocateur International
venue: C
http://www.actprovocateur.net
20 08 06
The sort of show that can be open to misinterpretation and if you fail
to read between the lines you may find it gratuitously offensive but
I do not think it is. Reading between the lines in this instance is
to have some understanding of the anomie of American culture, maybe
some knowledge of 'fighting bodies of men' and the fierce pride surrounding
military and unit subcultures such as the USMC here portrayed. The show
operates at a number of different levels with themes including the latter
day corruption of purpose of the armed forces and a 'grunts' eye view
of it all from the front line. Enlisting has long been the brunt of
many a lampoon and no less so in this production. A parody of the issues
surrounding the Iraq war, it features out of context sound and image
bites to show the absurdity of TV coverage and the unfairness of circumstance.
Its all dished up with lashings of everything from US mall culture,
cheerleaders, to military stereotypes not a million miles from the truth.
With a love story from the battlefield between grunt and USA educated
bourka-babe that goes tragically and hilariously wrong, the show features
many tableau and iconic images from the media's coverage of events that
are stark and resonant. Beheadings, human heads used as footballs, the
abuse of prisoners in US jails with instantly published photos on the
internet, these are all mercilessly parodied. This show holds up a mirror
to the times bringing iconic imagery from TV to the theatre where it
is more shocking for not being at a safe and sanitary distance. Its
a darkly funny, crass and hard hitting parody, worth checking out.
Apollo/Dionysus - The Dead
venue: C cubed
see http://www.thedead.org.uk
12 08 06
A thought provoking production that gives further insights into the
psychology, origins and motives behind the God Dionysus. Summoned up
in the thoughts of an older child seeking to make choices and gain enlightenment
at the Oracle, the Gods Dionysus and Apollo appear openly, to discourse
naked. They speak at length on the nature of their archetypes and the
necessity for mortals to construct their own characters and reality.
Some things are held to be true from witnessing this exposition at the
Oracle. What mortals make of their choices will by necessity be the
right ones for them. To emulate the Gods is to court destruction. Dionysus
overdoing it has more to do with his own story, after all he was torn
from Semele and born of the thigh of Zeus, so for good reasons then
do the Maenads worship the divinity of Dionysus and distract him. Also,
'mortals' are to maintain their internal childlike natures and a temporary
escape from their duties and the drudgery of the intellect and the rational,
is to be provided by the fruits of the vine, wearing crowns of ivy and
taking part in the revels.
Breasts and Burgers! - Richard Franklin Productions
venue: Smirnoff Underbelly
The Bacchae - Moving Parts
Venue: Diverse Attractions
see: http://www.movingparts.co.uk
11 08 06
This production probably fits better at the level of community or theatre
education than in front of a critical and perhaps more sophisticated
fringe audience. It was good in parts, mostly those of the bacchae who
brought life to the production. Overall it remained unpolished and clumsy
in its delivery and execution of the narrative. This is a great story
which relies on its staging to render human and understandable an otherwise
bleak and spiteful tale. In this instance it unfolded a little too mechanically,
there was some stumbling over lines and some devices, e.g., having the
messengers mimic tv newsreaders, seemed quite wrong headed. Nevertheless
it was a typical fringe experience and deserves some recognition for
overcoming what must have been some very trying obstacles in its making.
You could certainly smell the fear on entering the performance space.
The Cabaret of Menace - Cambridge
University ADC
venue: C too
See: http://www.cabaretofmenace.com
17 08 06
A lovely opening to this show with lots of mime type m-e-n-a-c-e from
the fabulously good looking, louche and decadent seeming cast, engaging
the audience with some exaggerated posing and very dark posturing. Unfortunately
it too quickly descended into the pastiche cleverness of literary posing
probably inspired by Brideshead Revisited. The wonderful menace of the
first five minutes dissipated and the show slipped into a cabaret of
pretentious literary triviality. The audience however were largely sympathetic
to their cause and laughed in appreciation at appropriate moments. However
the sketches despite their immaculate literary pedigrees were more tv
sitcom level than cabaret. Luckily the seats were soft and probably
some of the most comfortable of all the temporary venues this year.
There was a fabulously visual ending to match the start but it was a
relief to get out into the night to find a cold beer. This theatre group
is too conditioned by its academic origins to seek meaningful and intelligent
literary material when it can communicate far more meaning and be vastly
more entertaining with a more basic and minimalist style. They can be
far more riveting with a dark look than a quirky or cutting comment
and should work on 'less' being 'more' and perhaps desist from their
far too self-conscious and precious, literary 'cleverness.'
The Decameron Project
- Clemson University
Venue: C
See: http://www.clemson.edu/brooks
pr: clemsonews.clemson.edu/WWW_releases/2006/May/Decameron.html
pix: Image_pages
11 08 06
An enjoyable depiction of the darkness of 1348 as a mixed group of Florentines
(played by some talented young Americans) try to escape the Black Death
by fleeing into the countryside. They try to keep their spirits up by
telling stories, some dark, some darkly funny and most quite bawdy.
There is an interesting account of the trials and tribulations of a
gardener ministering to the needs of some nuns in a convent. Another
of a rather novel way in which a pious woman consigns the devil to hell.
All played out as stories within a story and with some very dark goings
on at the country estate in which they take refuge on their journey.
The play is stolen somewhat towards the end by its youngest cast member.
This troupes drama project will win you over totally as will their hose.
Their own story as told in their press releases is also worth a peek.
No nudity at all as billed, but with some explicit tumbling.
Embedded - Syracuse University Drama Department
venue: Quaker Meeting House
Hillary Agonistes - Frantic
Redhead Productions & Playwrights' Arena
venue: C
see: http://www.franticredhead.com
20 08 06
It is rather disconcerting to see how decision making may actually be
made in the Oval Office. An insightful look at the virtual reality most
Americans inhabit while proxy forces attempt to shape the world and
our view of it on behalf of even more shadowy vested interests. An amusing
parody of a 'what if' situation, were some of the ideas depicted in
this show not actually part of many Americans belief systems! Its a
bit worrying when the 'Angel of Death' actually appears to President
Hillary Clinton in 2009; when it later becomes 'Chelsea' we wonder about
Hillary's state of mind. US fundamentalist Christians may be outraged
or take it as a confirmation of their eccentric beliefs. Ultimately
validating these ideas would involve them all vanishing into thin air;
whatever happens, their freedom of speech will remain secure. This show
is as much about the spiritual and intellectual emptiness of the American
heartland in a more thoughtful and complicated world. It contains some
appealing ideas about the end of the age of reason and the post epistemological
present. This show may go on to be a great musical or larger theatrical
production, its themes demand it. Subversively restating the founding
principles of the American Constitution, dark forces about which we
know nothing, will hate this production. Its definitely a show that
raises the intellectual ante at the Edinburgh fringe. Set in a country
devoid of an intellectual world view based on value free education,
any propagandist or religious view may be in with a chance. Not a vision
of the world free thinking people would want to rush towards. I blinked
and missed the end punchline in the final onstage dramatics but it was
fun getting there. A show with a message and quite gripping, the playwright
Nick Salamone plays multiple parts, so go see it!
The House of Bernarda Alba - Dang Nabbit Theatre
Collective
Venue: Quaker Meeting House
Iliad, Fall of Troy - Live
Wire Theatre
Venue: Venue 45
12 08 06
If your notion of the classics involves received pronunciation and a
gilded public school type cast, you will not be disappointed. This production
captures the multitudinous nature of this thickly populated classical
tome without losing the audience. There is a good use of underlying
music which though piped in sets the moods wonderfully without being
intrusive or distracting. There are some good action sequences around
the swordplay. However these fabulously beautiful and handsome cast
members look and seem as if they would be more appreciative of a Pimms
no 1 cup at Glyndebourne than laying siege to ancient Troy. Odysseus
appears throughout in a very nice, light suit that would not seem out
of place in some English 'shire umpiring cricket as opposed to some
ancient battlefield. It is perhaps for those reasons the production
works rather well and succeeds in capturing and making accessible the
darker aspects of human nature in the narrative. There are after all,
'forces at work which we know nothing about, be careful' as someone
once said. Perhaps in a performance area bounded by seating on three
sides it would have been nice to see the production play to the whole
of the house occasionally. The last word is with Odysseus, 'there were
no heroes!,' he says and there were not.
Killing Time - Hint of Lime
Productions
venue :: C Chambers St
see links :: http://www.hint-of-lime.com/
category :: Theatre
Fri 25 Aug 06 20.15
This show was recommended to me by the C venues marketing staff as being
darkly suitable for inclusion in the Nightnews review schedule. Based
on a thriller by Richard Stockwell and directed by Jacqui Garbett, Killing
Time starts when a not so chance meeting in a supermarket sets off an
unusual encounter between a 'touchy' man and a woman at the centre of
a tangled web of business interests. The woman is Claudia Christian
(Commander Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5 fame) who received a best actress
nomination for her part in this play from the Stage this year. The grey
haired audience was definitely there for a psychological thriller so
when the 'touchy' lead man admits to being an ex con, the fun can truly
be said to begin. She wants to leave, he wants her to stay, it gets
a little fraught, she is made to stay. They get to know each other 'better.'
He's an 'armed robber,' she is 'abused by her husband' and by an even
more convoluted and unlikely twisted chain of events that are made quite
plausible, we learn that he is 'stalking' her husband and wants him
dead. He wants to recruit her to his cause; she is totally up for it!
Its a story where people who betray each other get killed, again and
again! Ricks story about the husband is very dark, as are the multiple
double crosses that bring the action to its final climax. Claudia Christian
and George Calil as Rick will have you on the edge of your seat throughout.
The show could benefit from slightly higher production values otherwise
its a very good example of its dark genre indeed.
A letter that never reached
Russia - First Theatre
venue :: C Cubed
see links :: http://www.first-theatre.com
category :: Theatre
Mon 28 Aug 06 17.45
This young Cambridge University derived company caught my eye with their
high quality publicity material. However as I had never read this particular
oeuvre by Nabokov of darker 'Lolita' fame, I took the precaution of
taking along someone who was familiar with the work. To say that they
were less than impressed may be an understatement but there was definitely
some distance between the show's intentions and what was actually communicated
to the audience and neither reading, nor being knowledgeable about the
Nabokov work, seemed to bridge the gap. This was unfortunate as the
show boasted choreographers, composers, actors, directors and designers
presenting their narrative interpretation in mime, dance, physical theatre
and puppetry. Unfortunately, from my point of view I felt that it rather
degenerated into a bit of a fourth form girls school panto in parts,
especially when they pranced about rather heavily of foot! It was certainly
a well intentioned production and there was no doubting the sincerity
of the cast. The action on stage often had me quite lost as far as making
sense of it all was concerned, however the cast had tap danced their
way into my affections by the end of the show and the appearance of
the erm, elves. Overall, this production was only dark in an obscure
sort of way....
Little Red Riding Hood
- Boy Who Cried Theatre funded by The Princes Trust
venue :: C Cubed
see links :: http://www.boywhocried.com/
category :: Theatre
Thu 24 Aug 06 20.05
A well attended show with a versatile young cast that swap roles, sing,
mime and dance their way through the fifty-five dark minutes of this
shows existence. Their narrative interpretation is entertaining and
puts a new spin on an old fairy-tale. The whole production is about
a magical transportation into something rich and darkly humorous as
it progresses to grandma's murder by Mr Wolf the forest axe murderer
and sex pervert. Of course the story does not end there and Little Red
Riding Hood's revenge is as grim as it is gothic, methodical and terrible.
The cast brings real emotion to the tale and may well make it even darker
and more twisted than you may remember from the original version of
your childhood. We are all in the forest now and if any of us had to
live through even half of the events in this story, we would be in the
hands of PTSD counsellors; so its great fun throughout!
Lolita - Act Provocateur
International
Venue: C cubed
See http://www.actprovocateur.net
19 08 06
A production in which the audience can be as riveting and interesting
to watch as the play! I found Humbert Humbert faintly disturbing in
this frank portrayal of one man's obsession. The show is actually quite
funny in parts and has a strong voyeuristic element which the cast seemed
to enjoy playing up to. Maybe the proximity of the action in a small
theatre space made for some embarrassment and squirming among the onlookers
as the action onstage was quite explicit for its taboo theme. However
despite its clumsy, unsubtle and uncomfortable opening, the production
grows on you and you may begin to sympathise with the characters and
enjoy the show as it develops. It represents a reworking of the original
novel with a more moral ending, so don't expect this dramatised version
to be true to the original story. Some of the more recent music tunes
featured seemed anachronistic in parts and it worked better with musical
allusions to an earlier period in time. A more assertive and knowing
Lolita than Nabokov may have intended but one more consistent and in
tune with teen culture and sexuality now; as in fact it was when the
book was first published, as recently as 1955.
Taylor Mac - Paul Lucas
Productions
venue :: Smirnoff Baby Belly
see links :: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q1-K1ht984
http://www.paullucasproductions.com/taylor_mac
http://www.taylormac.net/
category :: Theatre
unseen :: sold out :: no press tickets available from the agent
Not even I could get into this show, that's how popular and highly spoken
of, Taylor Mac became at the 2006 Edfringe. Still, you can get plenty
of previews at Youtube and I caught one of his numbers at his special
guest appearance at the Midnight Carousel press launch. Certainly an
artist you may want to see in the future...
Unrated
Macbeth re-arisen - White
Whale Theatre
venue :: Hill Street theatre
see links :: http://www.whitewhaletheatre.com/
Preview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLM5Y0VElPc
category :: Theatre
Mon 28 Aug 06 22.40
Something wicked this way comes and with some vengeance in this amazing
Shakespearean sham, lampoon and generally spoof production delivered
with the utmost seriousness and in deadpan style. Surely the line, 'Beware
the Ides of March' is from some other WS play, you may rightly think!?
There was sustained laughter throughout the show mostly from members
of the audience who enjoyed literary allusions and could spot a humorous
turn of phrase or word that was most certainly unknown in Elizabethan
times but was nevertheless delivered in a spoof pentameter that convincingly
drew the unwary in. It is a bit rough on MacDuff to have to slay Macbeth
a second time and this was the only show this year that I saw anyone
walk out of, if only to use the toilet because of its length, nearly
2 hours. Lady Macbeth is amazingly dark and this show includes the most
iconic use of a chainsaw in a period piece you will ever see as well
as the most realistic severed hand ever, scuttling across the stage
in an amazing feat of special effects trickery! This show sold the largest
number of tickets at the Hill Street theatre venue and is said to have
had a bit of a cult following around the festival this year. In addition
producer Kelly Farrow, was given a special award for Best Producer on
the closing night of the Festival. This was the last show I saw this
year at the festival and it was well worth its weight in gold bats...
Maddon'ER - Calm Productions
and The Gate...
venue: Rocket @ Demarco Roxy Art House
see: http://www.rocketvenues.org/rocket_2006/
category: Theatre
17 08 06
A two girl production that starts very well as they offer you a drink
as you go into the small theatre space allocated to this show. It was
very hot and packed out the night I attended, mostly with youth theatre
players taking time off. This audience enjoyed the show tremendously
as it tackles the theme of growing up head on. Its essentially a social
commentary starting in the 80's by thirteen year old Lesley who craves
sex but never quite gets any. Her mom is 'right on' and totally supportive,
so much so that Lesley blames her for all the wrong choices she makes
as she grows up through the 80's, 90's and beyond. The whole thing juxtaposes
Madonna's music releases and marketing ploys with key points in Lesley's
progress through life. Continuity between the fast pace, furious monologues,
funny action and costume changes are provided by a Madonna look alike
dancing energetically to her tracks. Its in the genre of 'chick flick'
and 'chick-lit,' its ironic, witty and will win you over totally. A
great show, especially if you are a chick or love Madonna and very worthy
of a visit.
The Midnight Carousel - C presents...
venue: C central
See: http://www.midnightcarousel.net
11 08 06
A night of polysexual philandering on stage as Dusty Limits provides
the continuity for a host of cabaret, burlesque, stand up comedians
and more burlesque. A showcase night at which C Venues press starlet
Laura Davis assembles an audience as bewitching as the cast of the show.
Offerings are mostly from C venues with the occasional star making a
brief touch down. A night which would be far more enjoyable in a less
claustrophobic venue. One preferably without a massive pillar in front
of the stage and with a better stocked bar. The battle weary fringe
audience endured the discomfort, bonded in the mutual appreciation of
naughtiness and enjoyed it nonetheless. A night with a fringe buzz where
you may spot an act you may want to see in its entirety. This last being
he true value of fringe variety nights. You will flit into the night
happy by the end of the show.
Normal by Anthony Neilsen
- Schadenfreude Productions
venue :: C, Chambers St
see links :: http://www.sfprod.co.uk/
http://www.cvenues.com/festival/show.php?id=1250
category :: Theatre
Thu 24 Aug 06 22.55
This is a vivid and atmospheric production about the Dusseldorf Ripper
and serial killer Peter Kurten, executed in 1931 in the closing years
of Weimar Germany. Its also about his young, naive defence lawyer Justus,
appointed to defend a hopeless cause, not least because Kurten was intent
on his own execution! Kurten is believed to have killed up to 60 victims
but his transgressions whilst on earth numbered far more than these
and covered a very full and interesting spectrum, from petty vices and
the grosser immoralities to dreadful depravities, sickening perversions
and some very wicked manipulation. The coolness of the darkened C +3
venue, itself quite high up and remote from the festival crowds, leant
an extra chill to the proceedings. There is still an element of dark
humour in this show which maybe lies in the grim retelling of Kurten's
early formative experiences. There was little modesty sharing a one
room apartment with his parents as well as 13 brothers and sisters!
Maybe that's why he arranged the drowning of two fellow 8 year olds
at the park. Soon he branched out to make friends with the local dog-catcher
and slaughterer and by his teens he discovered the joy of having sex
with animals as he slaughtered them also! Sex with mothers and daughters
together always seemed somehow spicier and a good starting point for
a catalogue of horror crimes far too nasty, if banal and unfortunate
for the victims, to recount here in full. Though it must be said that
when any are described in detail its always with a certain emotive poignancy
that makes the weight of all the others seem darker still. There is
a wonderful flashback sequence with a strobe to make a scene seem more
like a silent movie which succeeds terribly well against what is a minimalist
set. Kurtens lusts had no limits, his deranged crimes were systematic
and terrible. There were no crimes of passion, it was all premeditated
stuff, including the taunting of the local constabulary. Kurten gets
his defence lawyer to have sex with his wife then progresses towards
the denouement, the annihilation of self and his final discharge. No
one mourned the passing of a man who once cut off the head of a sleeping
swan to drink its blood. Before long 'normal' men would be carrying
out many of his crimes on behalf of the State. A grim, nasty and very
dark tale indeed and well worth its weight in gold bats.
The Open Couple by Dario
Fo and Franca Rama - OneOfEach
venue :: Sweet Grassmarket Apex hotel
see links :: http://www.opencouple.com dead link
category :: Theatre
Fri 25 Aug 06 14.40
A fantastic show by a, 'small yet genuinely international theatre group,
with members from Lebanon, Chile, Greece and Peru,' which is how they
describe themselves. The 'Open Couple' is a brilliant production, its
moral being, if you like to screw around, don't get married or do it
from within a relationship, because open relationships will take their
toll of even a reasonable persons psyche. This is a very funny show
which is well acted and draws you in completely. The intimate space
of an Apex Hotel suite probably assists in breaking down any barriers
between the action in the stage area and the audience. There are plenty
of mixed messages and double binds in this story of how one man's dream
is one woman's nightmare and once the roles are reversed there is enough
nightmare for everyone. Its a show that graphically illustrates how
messy playing around can get and how much misery and vengeance can be
unleashed in a married relationship. There is a nice use of musical
accompaniment, gunshot and some very funny, direct appeals to the audience
by the warring parties. Its both compelling and amusing, to watch this
couple bicker and take the piss out of each other for a whole 70 minutes.
Great as entertainment or as relationship counselling, its both genuinely
moving and hilarious in parts.
Rabbit - Something Else Productions
venue :: C Cubed
see links :: none found
Photo below from Edinburgh
fringe photographer
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5277/1320/1600/82970029rabbit1.jpg
category :: Theatre
Fri 25 Aug 06 12.25
Twelve twenty five p.m. is a bit early for me to be hearing references
to fellatio from onstage and I was not quite sure what this show was
all about for at least half of the performance. The earlier parts involved
a pathetic junkie staggering about, an overactive girl and more girls
dotted around the performance space in 'Playboy Bunny' type outfits,
so far so good. It then took me more than a few moments to adjust to
the junkie's 'wigger' type intonations and then work out that he was
in fact a hip-hop artist! By this stage, the small child sitting next
to me did not seem terribly impressed and I was worrying that I had
in fact been enticed into this show by posh, silly girls, in bunny costumes..
However when 'hip-hop' and 'rap' were equated with the 'noise of traffic,'
I began to warm to the show and foolishly allowed it to draw me in a
little. It seemed to be a 'war of the generations' type of production
to which the early afternoon audience seemed quite receptive. The audience
did in fact all look like they were, well actually 'parents,' and the
few I overheard chatting were, which probably explains it. With the
serious sub-plot of the fathers impending and untimely demise from an
incurable disease, the show progressed until at least two of the cast
were down to their underwear. A presumably radio controlled box would
occasionally rattle, suggesting the presence of an incarcerated rabbit,
but this was to stop, not long after the administration of a lethal
injection of heroin! The high point for me was when the by now, tipsy
mother character made a pass at the daughters boyfriend (the hip-hop
artist) but that was only because she looked so good in bra, panties
and an apron. An intelligent, young and good looking British amateur
cast, goes badly wrong by adapting a play by Australian Brendan Cowell,
only to discover that the USA is not the only country from which we
are divided by a common language and culture. If you know anything about
Aussie 'shock-jocks' this show, the plot and the father character will
have instantly made sense to you. I had to wait till I found that detail
buried at the back of the program afterwards, for all of the erm other
disparate pieces, to finally fall into place.
Playhouse Creatures - Dang Nabbit Theatre Collective
venue: Quaker Meeting House
category: Theatre
Provocative Cinema - Act
Provocateur International in association with C film
venue: C cubed
http://www.actprovocateur.net
21 08 06
Categorised as theatre presumably because it showcases more of the work
and members of Act Provocateur Int. Theatre. I was alone in this C cubed
venue, the Masonic temple off the Lawnmarket for this screening. A couple
came in for a while but the shorts failed to keep their interest and
they left but I quite enjoyed them. The first film was about a Goth
girl with a split personality and serves as a warning about going off
with strange and unknown gothic sexual partners. 'Automata' had a nice
compilation of images. 'Here Today,' a Purple Sky film shows how much
narrative its possible to get into about a minute of film. 'The World
in Her Eyes' makes the point, would you go with that girl or person,
if you could see every one of her past sexual partners in her eyes?
An interesting screening and a good advertisement for Act Provocateur
International.
Tits & Blood - The General's
Players, Washington and Lee University
Venue: Greyfriars Kirk House
see: http://theatre.wlu.edu/
13 08 06
Any allusions about 'Tits and Blood' in this show's publicity is a lie.
Twenty minutes into this show and I couldn't see what it was about.
Some high school kid in mall clothes expended far too much of the audiences
time on an account of his sleazy internet date. When she shows up we
are 25 minutes into the show and its a relief to see another person
on the otherwise empty stage! There is an attempt to gain the audiences
sympathy for the 'date.' She may end up as 'tits and blood' and their
may be a 'wanted poster,' should the audience warn her? Some are coaxed
into crying out but she fails to respond (it was a lie as well) and
this part of the show is still far too long for an internet safety ad.
Thirty six minutes into the show and there is a welcome change of pace
and of characters on the still empty stage. There are four stories about
petty spitefulness which even if richly deserved will only raise the
faintest wry smile from anyone. More coaxing of the audience, a vote
on which story is the biggest lie. Well they all are and for the denouement
the cast mocks their pitifully small audience for parting with their
money to see this show, which has been surprise, surprise, 'a pack of
lies!' This last is possibly overdone and so its with a clear conscience
that we can relegate this production into the obscurity it so richly
deserves as part of some wealthy Americans arts education. You will
hope that in the years to come, that they all suffer on the casting
couch and end up as fluffers or doing tacky American porn.
Under Ice - RAW in association
with Project Arts Centre, Dublin
venue :: C Chamber Street
see links :: http://www.falkrichter.com/
http://www.goethe.de/ins/ie/dub/acv/tut/2005/enindex.htm
category :: Theatre
Sun 27 Aug 06 18.30
This production explores the banality of technocratic alienation as
a myriad of salary-men around the world battle electronically to achieve
performance goals in organisations which increasingly regard them as
dispensable. This show was recommended to me by the producer of NORMAL,
as one of the most powerful and significant pieces of work on the Fringe
in 2006. Staged with some striking projected backdrops, the show opens
with a boardroom monologue from a besuited older executive. Under ice
is about adult coldness, anomie and distance; distance also perhaps
from one's childhood when everything seemed possible and such a banal
fate unimagined. The ice freezes time into slow motion and traps its
victims, who perceive the discomfiting experience of duration, in a
hostile executive environment - like the recurrent image of 'a dead
cat' frozen into the waters of an icy canal in the winter. Expect to
see 'suits' up on their hind legs spewing their corporate, MBA conditioned,
bullshit buzzwords but with the ironic sub-text that this meaningless
but deadly management claptrap deserves. Trapped by the cruel games
larger corporations play to keep their personnel in line, the execs
grapple with the impossible task of applying abstract management concepts
to human behaviour and keeping their identities intact under the burden
of an encroaching managerial false consciousness. The cold emptiness
of the intellectual landscape is contrasted with and compounded by the
iciness outdoors in this bleak portrayal of corporate totalitarianism.
The human costs of ruthless management accounting systems and the boardroom
executive's 'ultimate solution' of 'downsizing' underlie the grim realities
of this haunting, dark vision. A play by Falk Richter, translated by
David Tushingham, directed by Rachel West and originally presented as
a double bill 'The System,' in two parts, 'Electronic City' and 'Under
Ice' by the Project arts Centre and the Goethe-Institut Dublin.
Vocation of a Whore - Teatro
del Borgia
venue :: Zoo, Southside
see links :: http://www.teatrodeiborgia.org/
press release http://www.teatrodeiborgia.org/ediacom/press_releases/docs/tvoah.doc
category :: Theatre
Sat 26 Aug 06 21.30
Teatro dei Borgia presented their Edinburgh debut with the UK premiere
of VOCATION OF A WHORE, performed by Annika Strohm. "A sexy and
provocative contemporary European drama about fate, faith and sex,"
they said. It starts with a pretty girl on a vespa, music and mime but
much before long we are drawn hypnotically into a surreal monologue
about the unlikely adventures of an ex-prostitute and wannabee housewife,
doing her last job for the mob! Giving up cock wasn't easy for her and
the delivery of this monologue translated into English, probably from
Italian, by a Norwegian actress could not be less difficult. As such
it probably contains the longest and funniest talk on a blowjob in translation
that you will ever hear. The fabulous Annika Strohm mesmerised an appreciative
audience for the full length of the show with a very tall tale that
would give Moira Finucane something to worry about. With reflections
on the evasive nature of perfection, a retired prostitute and superheroine,
a madam, a hit man and a drug dealer move towards an absurd climax where
happiness is not the least worst position. Visually striking and sensually
appealing sets make the whole experience almost perfect.
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