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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2000 Reviews (10)Stand Up As comedy plays such an important part in the Fringe - comedy shows are second only to theatre in number - a play about stand-up comedians is very appropriate. Roy Smiles' play is not a comedy. Set in the filthy dressing room of a seedy comedy club in London, Stand Up focuses on the comedians, their relationships with each other and with comedy itself. We are not talking here of the stereotypical view of the clown hiding depths of sadness behind his laughter, although the comics we see could certainly be described as sad, in the modern get-a-life sense. There's Mal, who does stand-up because he can't do anything else; Tony who sees it as his route to fame, fortune and lots of girls; Dave, the club owner and ex-public schoolboy who has moved himself down-market; Debbie, the would-be comic, and Linda, the success story, with her Channel 4 programme, who used comedy as her escape from working on a supermarket check-out. Also involved are Harry, the club's very put-upon handyman and Stan, Linda's husband and manager. This is a very incestuous world: Mal and Tony used to be a double act, Tony is having an affair with Linda, Dave feels sorry for Mal... The undercurrents are deep, strong, complex and potentially explosive. This is a fine production - well worth seeing. Yours, Isadora One woman tells the story of Isadora Duncan, at the same time dancing in the her "ancient" style. It's quite short - shorter, in fact, than advertised, which is just as well or I might have dozed off. The dance is competently performed, certainly, but the pace of the whole performance is unchanging and somewhat pedestrian. A big disappointment for dance fans. Have-a-Go Hero With all the furore in recent months about the Martin case (he was jailed for killing a burglar who broke into his house), this story of a householder who "has a go" when he is burgled is very timely. It was not, however, what I expected. It's a savagely funny story with many twists and turns in the plot, and it certainly provides no easy answers. Dean and Diane, who run a security business, have just moved into a new house and are not yet fully unpacked. Late at night they hear a noise and Dean discovers a burglar creeping out of the house with their video recorder in his hands. He knocks him out with a baseball bat. All this has happened before the play begins. Will Dean send for the police? If so, will he end up being charged? Why is Diane so keen for him to let the burglar go? Is it because Dean already has a record for GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm)? The play is neatly plotted, with strong characterisation, and the three actors do it full justice. This is far from being a typical student production. Only one of the actors is an undergraduate and Qarie Marshall, who plays Dean, is actually RADA-trained and has some considerable professional work (including TV) to his credit. The production team have similar credits, so what we have a hybrid student/professional production, a combination which works very well. Next page - - - Index |
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