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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2002 Reviews (21)Sins Attached These singers and musicians are all decent performers caught in a "No Exit" of uninteresting music, lyrics that show no form and a book with one over-used and over-stated idea: if you sell your soul to the devil for money, you will not be happy and you will go to hell. Catherine Lamm The Drowned World All is not what it initially seems in The Drowned World. The four characters have very different agendas and their lives will soon intertwine. The madman with the Scottish accent dressed in a holed vest and pyjama trousers could as easily be hero as villain, as could the innocent looking Irish-accented woman. It seems hard to believe that the sweet couple canoodling on the square of manicured lawn can be anything but carefree young lovers. Within a seemingly very peaceful set, designed by Neil Warmington and containing a flower-filled aquarium, the lawn with bunny rabbits and flowers, a drama of horrific proportions is played out. The couple have the contagious radiance sickness and are pariahs. They glow, possibly as a result of some nuclear event. They are enemies of the state and the allegory could as easily relate to the Jews in Nazi Germany as to an uncertain science fictional future. The sick are hunted down and killed prior to the rendering down of their bodies. The couple have finally been identified and flee. The madman is waiting for an angel to visit and believes that the woman, Tara, has come to bless him in every way that he can imagine. The small nondescript Kelly is a soldier whose job it is to hunt down sufferers from the radiance. This is a very uncomfortable play reminiscent of Wallace Shawn's The Fever and Orwell's 1984 in its depiction of a totalitarian state where logic and humanity have ceased to apply. All that is left is pride and nobility. The acting, especially from Neil McKinven as the man who shelters but will sell victims and from Josephine Butler as the putative angel, is good under the strong direction of Paines Plough's Vicky Featherstone. She makes very full use of the claustrophobically small space which traps all of the characters. This is a terrifying vision of a possible future and all who see it will be persuaded to ensure that it can never come about. Philip Fisher 100 If we try to isolate the main difference between the very best shows and the mundane (or worse), it is in the concept, the idea which underlies the play, not so much the performances, for we have seen many shows this Fringe in which good actors are, essentially, wasted in sub-standard shows, shows which rework tired plots and endlessly recycled ideas, shows where characters are cardboard cut-outs and action arises from the exigencies of the plot rather than the characterisation. 100 brings a fresh idea, a new twist to the exploration of what we really are. In the anteroom to the afterlife four recently dead people gather. They are told that they must choose one memory and one memory only, which will be captured on a magical camera. Then all other memories will be erased and they will relive the chosen one for all eternity. After each replaying, they will forget and the cycle will begin again. "What if we don't decide?" one asks. "That's not an option you want to consider," is the reply. Each character - and they are a very varied group of people - explores his/her memories and tries to make the choice. The magic camera, however, does not always flash, for the memory must be the right one. Using very simple props - bamboo poles which function as the handlebars of motor bikes, table tops, doorways and many other items - the company give us a compelling and illuminating picture of what makes each character a unique individual. Three have their memories recorded: one fails and a dull eternity stretches before him. Concept, script, performances, design, lighting, costume, all unite to produce a compelling piece of theatre. Peter Lathan Hammerklavier This is a one-woman show based on Yasmina (Art) Reza's short memoir of her father. Despite a heavy cold, Susie Lindeman is able to hold the attention of an audience like the true professional that she undoubtedly is. This is a beautiful and very affectionate look at the end of a mature life and drifts around music and the author's experiences as she supports her father. She also reflects on her own life and his showing a delicate sense of humour as she imitates the various characters that she has met. This is at its best as she asks a man to give an honest opinion of jewellery that she hates and then never forgives him for doing so. The book is very touching and Susie Lindeman manages to bring its scenes to life for her audience. It will have many of them close to tears. Philip Fisher |
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