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Dateline: 23rd June, 2002

Edfringe Snippets 2

News Items about the Forthcoming Edinburgh Fringe Festival

News from the Pleasance
Pleasance Dome (venue 23) at Bristo Square will be even bigger and better than ever before with six venues and a late license ‘til 5am. New drama at the Dome includes Steve Wilder (star of Melrose Place and The Bold and the Beautiful) performing in Frank Strausser’s new play The Split and from Kuwait The Al-Hamlet Summit sets Hamlet at a Middle East conference, featuring arms dealers and live musicians. Dome 2 houses the first performance of John McGrath’s (founder 7:84 Theatre Company) posthumous work Hyperlynx.

The Pleasance Ccourtyard site (venue 33) has expanded again, to include a new venue - Over the Road 3 - which will be showcasing three exciting new productions from The Bar Production Company - Hell Inc, The Strong Room and Cargo, Ben Richards’ new play about asylum seekers based on true events.

The Courtyard also hosts the Black Light Theatre Company of Prague, who present Aspects of Alice, based on Alice in Wonderland, and the special effects extravaganza Gulliver, using simple yet stunning theatrical techniques to great effect. Fringe First nominated Theatre de l’Ange Fou return with their physical theatre adaptation of Gogol’s The Government Inspector. The Courtyard also hosts the UK Premiere of the off-Broadway hit Fuddy Meers starring Jane Krakowski (Elaine from Ally McBeal), Scott Capurro, Kate Copstick and Paola Dionisetti (Evening Standard Best Actress 2000 and Stage Best Actress 2000 - and the BTG's best actress - for Further Than the Furthest Thing at the Traverse and then the National Theatre).

The Pleasance continues to support youth theatre; shows this year include The Young Pleasance’s new musical set in a 1950s jazz club, Soho Storeys. Also ARTTS Skillscentre return with two new productions (Cleansing and Gimme All You Got) both written, produced and performed by ARTTS students. The National Student Theatre Company are back following the success of last year’s Falsettoland, with Notes from Underground and Six Women with Brain Death.

The venue presents an impressive selection of theatre to suit all tastes. This year’s talking points include: My England, a thought provoking play about football and national pride (supported by Neville Lawrence, FIFA and the Scottish Football Association); Sheffield-based theatre company Point Blank bring Nothing to Declare, about designers cruising war-torn areas in search of ‘crisis chic’ and Edinburgh’s elderly are done away with in the futuristic Wild Raspberries by Elizabeth MacLannan.

A fusion of physical theatre and stand up comedy will be performed in The Art of Taking Off - the production flies in straight from South Africa. And from New York we have a hip-hop version of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors entitled Bomb-itty of Errors.

Homer "crashes into the 21st century"
ODC Ensemble is a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary performance company that was formed in 2001. Bringing together highly acclaimed and renowned artists from Greece, Brazil, Russia and UK, the ODC Ensemble is a creative team of outstanding actors, dancers, musicians and visual artists which will be performing a modern version of Homer's Odyssey at this year's Fringe.

Set in "the nightclub of the underworld", the story is of a contemporary Everyman and his journey through life.

A Russian Electra
New company Decoy Theatre is to present their version of Electra at the Smirnoff Underbelly. This company of 17-20 year olds has set Sophocles' play in the last days of Tsarist Russia. The company tells us that their production will be full of visceral power, strong acting, striking imagery and raw emotion.

Stoke Mandeville is coming to SAVE THE WORLD!
For the instruction of the general public, there shall be performances of the play entitled "The Adventures of Stoke Mandeville, Astronaut and Gentleman" at Augustine's Studio (venue 152), George IV Bridge, at 8.50
p.m. Tuesday 13th August to Monday 26th August (excepting Monday 19th). This is an improving piece of science and heroism in which our hero battles with appalling villains, under rather extraordinary circumstances.

A cast of five plays the host of characters involved in the tale, and a fine evening is in store for all. The management assures patrons that under no circumstances shall persons of a French nature be admitted to the auditorium.

Pulling at the Pleasance
Pulling is a fast paced, humorous look at modern youth culture and centres on a fun packed, emotionally charged night in the North of England. Ben (Giles Alderson) and Terry (Anthony Law), two laddish friends, hit the town on the pull. They meet their match in Carol (Alix Cavanagh) and Julie (Emma Halmshaw), a couple of good time girls looking for fun. These hedonistic quests however, are overshadowed by a series of double murders taking place in their town and committed by a pair of killers known as The Pullers. As the couples pair up with each other for the night, suspicions arise as to what secrets their new partners might be concealing and which of them could become the next victim of the dreaded Pullers.

For facts and figures of the 2001 Edinburgh Fringe, go to our Fringe 2001 Factsheet.

Fringe Snippets 1
Fringe Snippets 2
Fringe Snippets 3
Fringe Snippets 4
Fringe Snippets 5
Fringe Snippets 6
Fringe Snippets 7
Fringe Snippets 8
The Fringe at the Netherbow
The Fringe at the Traverse (23rd June)
C Venues at the 2002 Fringe
Dance Base at the 2002 Fringe
Facts about the 2002 Fringe
The Smirnoff Underbelly at the 2002 Fringe

Index A-F
Index G-K
Index L-Q
Index R-Z

News Archive A-L
News Archive M-Z
Production News Archive

Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.

 

 

©Peter Lathan 2001