|
|
|
|
The
Edinburgh Fringe
|
|
|
|
Fringe 2001 Reviews (6)A Desire to Kill on the Tip of the Tongue As you would expect from anything associated with Mark Ravenhill, this is very much "in yer face", both as a play and a production. The setting is outside a nightclub from which the aggressive Rou has been barred. Defining his life by his success with women, he is frustrated by the fact that his latest conquest - Lucie, a married woman - is waiting for him inside. He is like a caged animal. With him are the twins, Poupon and Rose (for whom he shows the utmost contempt, Poupon because of his total failure with women and Rose because she is Poupon's sister), and Vic, older, gentle, a calming figure, the only person who seems to be able to get Rou to apply a modicum of control to his behaviour. He sends Poupon inside to give Lucie a note, and Poupon returns to say that she is dancing with another man and tore his note into small pieces. It transpires that the man she is dancing with is her husband. She comes out, he comes out, and the play portrays the shifting relationships between each character. In fact, relationships are torn apart as past events and present feelings are revealed. Relationships - or, rather, the inability to sustain relationships - are at the heart of the play. The focus shifts continually, but tying it all together is the almost elemental violence of Rou, and, increasingly as the play progresses, the moderating influence of Vic. There is no resolution. Jean and Lucie's marriage is at an end, and she goes off with Rou, but we know there is no permanence there. These six unhappy people - for even Vic is unhappy and wants something more out of life - will remain unhappy. It's a bleak picture of life, powerfully evoked by a strong cast with equally strong direction. And what a contrast with one of WISEPART's other productions, Pandemonium. This is definitely a company to watch! Play Short and Girlie is a lesbian theatre company which describes Play as "camp satirical comedy" about a group trying to put on a play and meeting with (and overcoming) obstacle after obstacle. An ensemble piece, its characters are really pretty stereotyped: the airhead girlie fem; the pushy, rather vicious dyke; the sexy vamp, and so on. Satire it ain't, but it is a pleasant enough, if very undemanding, light comedy. Imaginary Prisons The Underbelly is a new venue this year, another atmospheric undergound vault. As we enter, in the dim blue light we can just make out seven figures, most of whom are very still. There are sounds of scratching on the floor, then voices - not words, just vocal sounds. This is the start of an absurdist, off-centre look at the story of Sleeping Beauty in which the king's prohibition of anything sharp is taken quite literally: a cook chops carrots with her teeth, for example, and a man has his leg amputated with a hammer. We are invited, the programme tells us, to "bear witness to the private agony of what it means to have a single purpose." It's a rather uneven piece, much more effective in its comedy than its more serious moments, and I still can't fathom exactly what relationship the scratching and other noises at the beginning had with the rest of the piece. There were, in fact, quite a few moments when I felt things were included for their own sakes rather than because they contributed to moving the piece forward. Angel Exit is an international company: members of the cast are from France, Britain and Spain, and the director is from the USA. What they have in common is their training at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Next page - - - Index |
|
|