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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2002 Reviews (14)Happy Natives Greig Coetzee is a very talented man. He writes extremely funny material and is a good comic actor. Following his solo Fringe success of a couple of years ago, White Men with Guns, he is back in 2002 with a colleague. Coetzee could be reagraded as a man who maps the development of society in South Africa. He has now moved from the war with insurgents into the post-revolutionary period with a tale about what happens when a Black acto, played by James Ngcobo, settles in a traditionally white middle class district. The two actors then proceed to play about a dozen parts really expertly, with Coetzee, in particular, the master of the bodily gesture that can convey the essence of a person. The plot is largely irrelevant and involves two main themes. First, the relationship between the black man and his bigoted neighbour who tries manfully but unsuccessfully to cover his distaste for what has happened in society. The second strand is the attempt by Kevin, the actor's friend and collaborator, and the expertly depicted hypocrite, Sinead,to make a meaningful film to promote the new spirit of South Africa. There are many very funny moments and, with more ruthless cutting to increase the pace before the play transfers to Soho, it could prove to be a popular success. Philip Fisher A Slight Tilt to the Left Under Guy Masterson's expert direction, writer and performer, Michael Mears gives a very good performance as an assortment of the family members and friends of the late Donald Pearson. This solo play takes as its twin subjects the love of horse racing and the problems that Leonard, Donald Pearson's son, has in finalising his father's peaceful entry into the next world. The main issue is the gravestone. It is supplied by the very funny Derek Niggly, by far Mears' best creation. From the start, things go wrong. Leonard's brother Matthew, an actor whose peak was a three day engagement as a Malteser, is of no help. He is determined to get the wording right and does so, give or take the spelling. From there it is all downhill as it tilts and fails in numerous ways to allow the old man closure on a life wrecked by gambling. Mears is a very talented actor and also mimic. His Desert Island Derbies, complete with uncanny impressions of racing commentator Peter O'Sullevan, are really special. The gentle humour of his writing can show great affection at times but is not really worthy of his performance. Philip Fisher Variety Variety is Douglas Maxwell's affectionate homage to the days of music hall and the people who made their livings from treading the boards. It is set in 1929 in a seedy theatre that is about to become a cinema thus feeding the public's desire for the "talkies". Somehow it manages to be cross between Noises Off and Six Characters in Search of an Author. It features the lives of five ill-matched Vaudevillians, together with their dying manager and a man who has apparently arrived from RKO Radio Pictures to give some or all of them the big break in movies. This is clearly preposterous. Their performances towards the end of the show demonstrate why the art is dying and their theatre is about to close. No matter: as tubby, stuttering Charlie Buchanan, David Ireland arrives. He is that Maxwell stereotype, the innocent outsider hated by everybody, including himself, and bullied by all; in this context, the stooge. The surprise is that this time he overcomes his problems to take control of his life and make it a success. He has been brought in to close the theatre and turn it into a cinema in a week. He does not have the courage to tell the performers this and prefers to feed their fantasies. The actors are a rum bunch. A married couple who hate each other, the foul-mouthed Jack Salt, who swears as much as a whole troop of troopers, and his wife, the drunken, tragic Betty are the faded stars. There are also the nasty one who is cruel to his devoted gay acolyte and a silent Indian dancer. The surprise is the source for the last member of the troupe. The plot's pathos is introduced by the ghostly Rose, daughter to the whole company. Her loss hangs over the theatre as a symbol for what is to happen when their baby is finally, inevitably taken from them and they have nothing left. There is also a touching valedictory speech given by Peter Kelly as Todd, the manager, as he recalls the days of triumph. Holding the play together is a kind of Greek chorus, the five members of the Harvey family played suitably sardonically by Jimmy Harrison. They see all from far-flung corners of the theatre rather like the audience. The plot is entertaining and tells as much about the life of jobbing actors as it does about Variety, and the staging is very impressive. The set designed by Fred Meller is stunning. It consists of a stage seen from both sides. There are the standard backstage props as a basis but within this are half a dozen wonderful backdrops the best of which are a beautiful pastoral scene and a pastiche of a Dufy harbour scene that takes the breath away. With Variety, Douglas Maxwell has had a chance to write a full-scale drama to be staged in a large theatre and while he has not yet perfected the art, there are signs of the promise that has been so much lauded by visitors to his previous three plays. Philip Fisher I Catch Your Breath After a year's gap, No Limits returns to the Fringe with a new physical theatre/dance show. No Limits is a professional company made up of people with a learning disability, a company whose reputation for thoughtful physical theatre has grown over the years. I Catch Your Breath, performed against a largely film background to a soundtrack composed of the spoken word, music and the sound of breathing, tells the story of a girl who, haunted by dreams of her twin brother, gradually withdraws from reality. This is physical theatre at its most accessible, but that doesn't mean it is superficial. On the contrary, it explores the interior world of the young girl in some depth and leaves open the question as to whether there ever actually was a brother and, if so, just what the relationship between them was, for everything we see is filtered through her consciousness. The performances are good and the piece sensitively directed by Janet Nettleton, who also wrote the words. Peter Lathan |
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