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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2002 Reviews (19)Such Stuff That We Are Made Of Presented in a "promenade space where you can walk around". And the first thing: a naked man comes in and herds you into one corner. Part two: three naked women come in and herd you into a different area. Parts three and four: the same. The "dances" consist of little more than very little movement done very slowly. The ending piece finally introduces costumes, music and words; quite political. The dancers hurl words and phrases starting with "George Bush", "Toyota", "Mickey Mouse", running to "health care for the poor", "jobs for everyone", "peace" and all of this as if they are new idealogies, having forgotten the late sixties except for the music like "Give Peace a Chance", "Imagine", and music from "Hair". Lots of questions but, of course, no answers. No question that the dancers are talented and, if one ponders at great length, one can find meaning and justify, sort of. One can only forgive them for their youth. Catherine Lamm Mr Kolpert The Germans seem to know far more about the blackest comedy than the British. It is hard to think of a British play that is anything like this, with the possible exception of The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh. A very avant garde young couple - Ralf, who is a chaos researcher, and Sarahl welcome one of her colleagues to a foodless dinner. The apartment is a lesson in minimalism as many objects are replaced by their names like a modern art exhibition. Edith arrives with her potentially psychopathic husband, Bastian. The play is always unpredictable and absolutely nothing can be taken for granted. The person next to you in the front row could be a reviewer or the possibly dead eponymous nonentity. The comic timing and capacity to surprise under the direction of Lydia B. Ziemke rarely misses. For those with strong stomachs and a good sense of the surreal this is an absolutely hilarious play with good performances from all four actors mentioned above as well as Liam O'Dwyer as the pizzaman who gets sucked into the gore, almost literally. It is to be hoped that the relatively new Gilded Balloon Studio Ensemble continues to produce adventurous work of this quality for many years to come. Philip Fisher Hell Inc My first show of the day: a good choice because it's an undemanding but amusing and enjoyable comedy, the best way to lighten the pain of getting up on the seventh (or is it eighth?) day of a packed programme of shows. Hell is a family run business which is on the verge of bankruptcy because its appeal to consumers has declined steadily ever since Satan went to Woodstock in 1968. His daughter (Lucy - what else could she be called?) struggles to keep the firm afloat and so brings in marketing man Dick (cue lots of knob jokes) Leeson (seem familiar to you?) of Earrings Bank (of course it does - and so do most of the jokes). There's a whole crew of other characters, including Gerald Reaper ("Call me Grim - it has more oomph"), a most obnoxious angel and, of course, a certain other character whose name has been changed (by the people who brought you Lotto) - Goddo. (I don't rememebr anyone waiting for him - perhaps they missed that one.) There are John Major jokes, knob jokes, Stephen Byers jokes, knob jokes, John Prescott jokes, knob jokes, Tony Blair jokes - and knob jokes. It's all very predictable but definitely good for a laugh. Peter Lathan Weather This is a short, one-woman show about depression. Initially, the protagonist is seen doing her job as a chirpy television weather presenter. The emphasis is very much on performance rather than meteorology. This is interspersed with commentary on the childhood and then current times of the presenter. It does not take long to see that she is cracking up and that the main friends and support that she has are her furry animals, a seal and a swan. Weather demonstrates that sometimes a happy, smiling face covers a darker psyche. This is a message that needs to be heard and is presented with great simplicity. Philip Fisher |
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