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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2002 Reviews (12)Oleanna This is a very good production of David Mamet's play about the battle between the sexes. At the start, Guy Masterson's black clad Professor is relaxed and in control, as he meets his weakest student. Beth Fitzgerald conveys the frustration of a student who is all at sea. The initial discussions are very naturalistic as despite much repetition, the pair fail to communicate. His attempt to empathise with and support her studies may have sexual undertones, although this is not very apparent and is reminiscent of Malcolm Bradbury's History Man. He is a man happy to break rules as a sign of his personal power. He is, after all, about to get tenure and a new home. In the Second Act, the student has filed a complaint. This is not a problem for the sanctimonious professor. It may delay or even prevent the house purchase but the tenure committee have to support him. He is angry and rather bewildered but unconcerned. However hard the professor tries, everything that he says makes matters worse. This is a function of the attitudes of both protagonists. Because the couple are from such different backgrounds, there is no way that they can break barriers to understanding. This leaves each of them uncomfortable and eventually, he finds that the only way that he can get through is the use of violence. This represents a total defeat. It is also a victory for the woman who starts off as weak and ends, after a complete about-turn, in total control. The play is very well constructed with mobile phone calls interrupting the man every time that he is close to getting through and saving himself. Further, many of his problems are prefigured by his own words. Guy Masterson and Beth Fitzgerald give excellent performances in this exploration of gender and power. Both characters are believable, though in this production, the balance of sympathies possibly strays a little too far from the neutral, as the student becomes increasingly vindictive, sometimes without visible reason. Philip Fisher Diarmuid and Grainne This 21st Century adaptation of an Irish myth is wild and very exciting. It is Disco Pigs meets Bonnie and Clyde. The fact that some of the plotting is intricate doesn't matter as you are swept along by its fantastic energy. In simple terms, this is the story of a king's daughter, Grainne, who has had mental problems. She looks like a Goth and has made a career as a singer. In order to form a strategic alliance with another king (or gangster in this version), the king promises his daughter to Fionn (better known as Finn McCool). Their wedding night is not a success and Grainne escapes with the less than willing Diarmuid at gunpoint. A lengthy chase ensues during which Diarmuid finally falls for the heroine. They are greatly assisted by a character previously unknown in literature, a fairy foster father playing the part normally attributed to Godmothers. In passing they fight junkies in parkas and SAS men and finally have to rob the wizard Searbhan. Sadly, myth doesn't allow them to live happily ever after, as an ancient curse comes back to haunt them. Eanna MacLiam and Emily Nagle star in the title parts with good support from all of the cast. The production quality is incredibly high: rock music and a single song enhance the tremendous pace; and visual invention is to the fore. For example, as Grainne travels, hair flying, in an open top sports car (four wooden chairs), the motorway is conveyed by torches, fans and men walking past holding cardboard mountains and sheep and cacti. This is a very lively production that never lets up and is continually highly entertaining. Philip Fisher Goner Goner is really a comedy piece masquerading as a play. It is a type of breathless Saturday Night Live sketch about what happens in a hospital when the President of the United States catches a bullet in his brain. The comedy is often surreal and a little (but never too) tasteless, as we see the various stereotypes. There is an egotistical, none too bright president, a set of doctors from ambitions trainee to careworn, loopy expert, and a couple of lovers. One of the lovers is a researcher in fecal matters, who wants to be a film maker, who improves life for Black people in the most patronising way possible. You get the idea. This scabrous show launches numerous attacks on today's USA and has many genuinely funny lines. Philip Fisher Shopping and F***ing Benet Catty has been making a name for himself as a very interesting young director at the Fringe for some years now. His trademarks are pacy productions that contain great wit. This year, he has bravely taken on one of the most controversial plays of the 1990s, Shopping and F***ing. It is pleasing to say that Catty and his young cast have done a very good job. The sad lives of five people are portrayed in shocking detail. In retrospect, the "heroine", Lulu is the model for Ravenhill's Mother Clapp, such a success at the National Theatre. She has to look after the young gay men who are insecure and very unreliable. She has to finance and feed them by any means possible. She falls in with film producer and drug dealer Brian and her efforts to sell drugs for him lead to all kinds of trouble. Similarly, Robbie's attempts to get off drugs and love lead him into the arms of Gary, a 14 year old rent boy. While this is a very troubling play, the biggest worry is the spotlight that it focuses on the consumer society where as Brian says, the only morality is to "get the money first". Amazingly at the end of all of the action, Ravenhill leaves a hopeful ending. Catty's production is very impressive with fine performances from all five cast members, Simon Ramsey as Gary and Sally Humphreys as Lulu, in the vanguard. Philip Fisher |
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