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Edinburgh 2007 Previews - ShakespeareDateline: 24th July, 2007Shakespeare, of course, is a perennial favourite at the Fringe, both played straight and, as one critic was heard to mutter some years ago, "mucked about with". Let's look at the "played straight" productions first. First to be mentioned must be the production which comes back year after year, Frantic Redhead's "walking play" production of Macbeth, which begins and ends in Greyfriar's Kirk Yard but takes its audience on a tour through the wynds and closes of the Old Town. It keeps coming back because it is so popular: the actors change from year to year but it remains a very good production. I saw it in 1998 and have been tempted to go back ever since because, as I said at the time, "Thank goodness I decided to ignore my instinct to avoid this production! I would have missed one of the highlights of this year's Fringe." But of course, it's impossible to fit in something I've already seen when there's so much new work on offer. There's also a production of Macbeth at Greenside and Aaron Berg Presents Macbeth from Stanford University in California, which promises "a seemless, high-paced version of the classic" performed by a cast of six at understairs@Royal Scots Cub, which might possibly qualify to be listed under the "mucked about" banner, but we'll give it the benefit of the doubt. Julius Caesar (C Chambers Street), Measure for Measure (Quaker Meting House, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal Botanic Garden), Othello (C too) and Pericles (this production was at the Apostolic Church, but that's no longer a venue: it has transferred to Sweet ECA) each get one production, whilst Romeo and Juliet gets two (Hopetoun House and Greenside), as does Twelfth Night (Baby Belly and Augustine's, but both in week 3: bit of a clash there!). Illyria return to Bedlam for just four performances in week 3 with their production of Much Ado About Nothing. Their productions are performed by a small number of actors who double, treble or even quadruple parts, but they always remain faithful to the text and, I feel, to the spirit of Shakespeare, so they can't be included in the "mucking about" category, but it's not quite "straight" either. Still always worth seeing, though! What about the Shakespeare that has been "mucked about with"? We've already mentioned in a previous article Hamlet (Solo) and Romeo and Juliet - A Rock and Roll Love Story, so what else is there? Macbeth crops up again twice: there's a Bouncy Castle Macbeth (Rocket@Demarco Roxy Art House) which has echoes of the English Shakespeare Company's production of Richard III at the 1998 Fringe, and Macbeth: Who Is That Bloodied Man? (Old College Quad) by Polish company Biuro Podrozy, which promises "stilts, fire and music". Teatro dei Borgia gives us the option of Escaping Hamlet at the Udderbelly: "a ravishing meditation on duty and destiny", whilst at the Pleasance Dome we can see L.O.V.E. Romeo? Juliet?, described as "a funny, furious adaptation; Romeo and Juliet on ward 212". There's a very odd sounding Shakespeare Bingo, Featuring "A Comedy of Errors" at Bedlam and Story Shakespeare: Two Noble Kinsmen which uses "music, movement and inventive narration" at C too. Finally C's ever popular Shakespeare for Breakfast - featuring free coffee and croissants as well as the Bard - returns to the Chambers Street venue for the sixteenth year. To my shame I confess I have never seen it: I'm afraid 10am is far too early for me after a night which may well have seen me leaving my last show at one or two in the morning! But I hear good things about it.
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