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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2003 Reviews (3)The People Next Door This play has already been the recipient of both Fringe First and Herald Angel Awards after the first week of the Festival and it is easy to see why. Apart from a weak scene near the end that unnecessarily tries to tie up loose ends, Roxanna Silbert's production is gripping throughout. Unlike Adam's last play for the Traverse, Among Unknown Hearts, this one takes on major global issues. It may have the same bunch of small-minded losers at its centre but its oblique look at the way that our lives are influenced by world events, as well as the way that they are represented in the media is telling. Nigel is weak-minded but lives in the community and shows some (possibly inconsistent) flashes of intelligence and humour. Stress stresses him out and so when Joe Duttine as a bullying policeman straight out off The Bill, comes battering at his door he doesn't react well. The unlikely news that his half-brother is an Al-Qaeda terrorist and that Nigel is to become a mole at the local mosque leaves him gibbering. His own life may be troubled but his neighbours don't fare much better. The old lady from upstairs blows her flat up while Marco, his 15 year old friend from along the corridor, is regularly beaten by his prostitute mother. In a remarkable twist, it is Nigel, using the strength that he has discovered in religion, becomes their protector even though he can't look after himself. Adam has created three really original characters and Silbert has brought them to life. Fraser Ayres gives Nigel a real down-trodden humanity while Eileen McCallum is hilarious as her ageing namesake. Her monologues as she gets into tetchy arguments with her dead husband's photo are great. As young Marco, Jimmy Akingbola looks a little old but does well to convey the conflicting loyalties of an abused teenager. The play is set in a decrepit, graffiti-plastered apartment block with cut-out walls to form acting spaces. This has been designed by Miriam Buether and has a depressingly realistic feel. Napoleon in Exile Chris Goode has won Fringe Firsts in the last two years with quirky dramas. Napoleon in Exile has been devised and written by the resident company at the Camden People's Theatre and is equally unusual. It tells the story of two residents of a psychiatric hospital and their doctor and nurse. The combination of the lost amnesiac, Gus (Tom Lyall), and the lady who believes without a shadow of a doubt that she is Napoleon, is potent. The play is exceptionally well written with both visual and verbal imagery crafted superbly. It is always unpredictable and often humorous which maintains interest throughout. It also benefits from an extremely eclectic choice of music - everything from gentle piano solos through accordion to rap and disco. Gemma Brockis is good as the reincarnated Emperor whose madness seems little stranger than the behaviour of Greg McLaren's doctor or Katja Hillevaraa's Finnish nurse. The meaning is sometimes oblique but this well-acted play is constantly thought-provoking and springs numerous surprises with aplomb. |
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