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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2002 Reviews (25)A Place with the Pigs Most of Athol Fugard's work is overtly set in his native South Africa. Even this play that is ostensibly about the Soviet Union in 1953 is an allegory of life in his home country. Pavel has spent the years of World War II in the army, starving and frozen. Eventually it all gets too much as he remembers his prize possession, a pair of slippers lovingly embroidered by his mother. He deserts and disappears. The play is set ten years later in the pigsty where he has resided for that period. He is slowly going mad despite the wonderful support of his wife, Praskovya. He decides to go public on the day of the anniversary of the war but then his cowardly instincts overcome him. His wife is forced to play the mourning widow and collect a medal awarded for his courage. Pavel eventually gets pushed too far when he sees a beautiful, free butterfly and realises its symbolic significance. He understands this even better when a pig devours it. He feels that while he may have saved his life and sanity, it is worthless if he has no soul. In a very funny scene he decides to see the outside world, sneaking out in women's dress. This taste makes him desire more. Finally, in a profound metaphorical gesture he slaughters the pigs and frees his soul. In that this play was written in 1987, there is little doubt that the historical parallels with Fugard's home country are entirely intentional as the "pigs" are slaughtered and freedom reigns. If there could be any doubt about the allegory, Fugard makes it clear as Pavel says "All those years of shouting and violence gone - it must be a dream". Thankfully, the dream came true. The performances in this thought-provoking play by Graham Winter and Julie Nicholson under Gary Lee Prestwich's direction are both excellent as one would expect from such seasoned professionals. Philip Fisher Five Finger Exercise In Five Finger Exercise Peter Shaffer takes a nouveau riche family and puts them through a kind of J.B.Priestley dissection process with the catalyst of an outsider. In this case, the German tutor, Walter, enters the family of a wealthy furniture manufacturer to teach 13 year old Pamela everything but his native tongue. Unfortunately, the family develops a collective crush on him. Hoity Toity Mother can hardly keep her hands off him; young Clive, who drinks quadruple Taliskers like apple juice, wants to confess and take him away. Finally Pamela has a healthy teen crush. The only person who can resist is the choleric father. Eventually secrets are revealed about Walter's past that add some poignancy to his eventual downfall. This production somehow lacks inspiration and suffers from some somewhat histrionic acting which downplays the deep emotions that should be to the fore. Philip Fisher Telling Wilde Tales As you would expect, Oscar Wilde's tales are not nice, sweet "happy ever after" fairy tales. They are really quite black, speaking of man's inhumanity to man. Three are presented here - The Infanta and the Dwarf, The Happy Prince and The Fisherman and the Mermaid - and they show us a world which, although peopled by princesses and princes, flowers who talk, and mermaids, is not at all a pleasant one. In this world it is the good who suffer. A narrator tells the tales and the cast present them through some dialogue, choral speaking and dance. The large "proper" stage of Southside is well suited to a show of this nature and the obligatory black backdrop and legs are also very appropriate to the blackness of the tales. The company is an odd mixture: the production team are all professionals, each with quite a track record in theatre, whilst the performers are mainly students who have themslves gained considerable theatre experience over the years. It's a show which will be enjoyed by adults and children alike. One wonders, however, how many adults will realise just how subversive these tales are, for they reflect a child's view of the unfairness and even cruelty of the world towards children. Peter Lathan |
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