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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2002 Reviews (6)Bright Colours Only What a wonderful start to a show! Pauline Goldsmith welcomes us into her home with a kiss on the cheek and a shake of the hand, tells us to find a seat, gives everyone a cup of tea or a glass of whisky and a sandwich. There was quite a nice selection of sandwiches too - and I decided that the appalling weather outside meant that a wee dram was most appropriate! And then the wake begins. Bright Colours Only is about death and wakes. After the welcome, the drinks and the sandwiches, a very nice lady funeral director takes us through all the coffin and embalming options - hilariously funny, if in rather questionable taste. We then see some more little death/wake-related cameos - some recorded, some done through animation, most live - and finally we process out of the theatre behind the coffin, with Mrs Goldsmith a chief mourner, naturally. Very, very funny. Very relaxed. Perhaps a tad too long, but, hey, who's complaining when you're enjoying yourelf so much? Peter Lathan Jerry Springer - the Opera This has to be the most hyped production of this year's Fringe, out-hyping even Susan Sarandon, so I turned up at the packed Assembly Music Hall, expecting to be at least dismissive, and possibly even to fulminate against the tendency to hype on the grounds of media-friendliness. I was so wrong! Jerry Springer - the Opera is superb! For a start, it is a true opera, not a sung-through musical with pretensions. And the singers are real opera singers. And it is just so funny! It has an impressive pedigree, developed by Tom Morris and Battersea Arts Centre, where it began life in February 2001 as part of one of BAC's "Scratch Nights". Since then it has grown and grown, been seen asnd enthusiatically welcomed by luminaries such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and Nicholas Hytner, and has had offers from the West End and opera houses in Europe and the US, but the two writers chose to present the first full concert version at the Fringe. Well done, them! say I. Remarkably, the epitome of trash TV translates incredibly well onto the opera stage, even though lines like "F*** you!" and "chick with a dick with a heart" do sound a bit odd sung in the classical style. The first act is a reproduction of a JS show and ends with Jerry himelf (who, incidentally, was born in London) being accidentally shot by a black, nappy-wearing second coming of Jesus, who was actually aiming at a group of Ku Klux Klansmen. Don't ask! This is trash TV, after all. The second act has Springer meeting Satan and... But why spoil the story? For there will certainly be a chance to see this again, possibly (probably) in a full-scale production. The opera-lovers in the audience enjoyed it, and so did the theatre people. I suspect that those prepared to admit to watching the TV show did too. I understand that tickets are hard to come by, but, if you're in Edinburgh, get one if you can. Peter Lathan ODC - after Homer I didn't understand it! I began my career as a classicist - I read classics for my first two years at University before switching to English - and I've read Homer in the original Greek. I even recognised - and was still able to translate - certain lines which were quoted in Greek. I know the story well, and I also know the other myths and stories which were used in this production. So my reaction is not what? but why? The ODC (Odyssey, get it?) Ensemble is an Anglo-Greek collaboration, so that, perhaps, provides us with a clue:European and British theatre can be very different. They're also a physical company, and that, too, might give us something to go on. In addition, they experiment with live sound, at times using a sensor which converts light to sound, so that says something, too. But I still have to ask why. What have they added? How does this production illuminate / expand / deepen Homer's work? They obviously know - there is a real sense of commitment in the performances - but somehow I didn't get it. Is the fault in me or in them? I don't know. No star rating. I just couldn't judge this one. Peter Lathan Iron It is 15 years since Fay last saw her daughter, Josie. That was when she was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of her husband. In the intervening period, Josie has become a successful professional woman and toured the world. Now she has decided that she needs to meet her mother and learn the truth about her parents. The initial meeting is very edgy and uncomfortable for both women and also causes a problem for warder Sheila, who has built up a good rapport with Fay and now feels challenged. The play unfolds slowly as life in prison is depicted in all of its rawness. Mother and daughter must also get to know each other again. It is years since Fay saw anyone and Josie is suffering from problems with relationships. The two women build up a mutual need. Fay can live vicariously through Josie. In return, Fay becomes Josie's project. Everything builds to the crunch as Fay helps Josie to achieve catharsis by recovering the repressed memories of the first 11 years of her life. She has no idea of anything in her life prior to the sight of her father lying on a sofa in a stupor. This play of recovered memory brings to mind Mike Cullen's Anna Weiss (1997) at the same venue and has a similar power to shock. It may not be comfortable viewing but it is compelling. Roxana Silbert's direction and Anthony McIlwaine's set ensure that the starkness of prison life is clearly demonstrated. Silbert also shows the edgy interaction between two women with mutual history and genes who cannot escape each other. While Louise Ludgate is good as Josie, Sandy McDade produces an outstanding performance as her mother, a performance that must surely win awards Philip Fisher |
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