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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2003 Reviews (7)Nine Parts of Desire Heather Raffo's one-woman show in which she stars, explores the varied experiences of Iraqi women today. The central character is an artist, Layal, who wishes to break acceptable bounds, in an attempt to find true freedom. Ultimately, she has to choose between her goals and the pressures that Saddam's state brings to bear. Should she sell out and design a mosaic of George Bush for hotel-dwellers to walk over? Other characters have equally compelling dilemmas. The overweight Amal catches her husband in bed with her best friend and begins a globe-trotting search for happiness. The most shocking testament comes from a pregnant female doctor. She has reached the end of her tether treating babies born with two heads or none, a legacy of the depleted uranium that is spreading cancer like a plague. Not far behind are several others whose families have died tragically in the war. Escape from the country isn't enough to escape your roots and an Iraqi-American may be far away but as she expresses her predicament, "All of your family living in the World Trade Center - that's what the Gulf War felt like". Using these stories and many more, Raffo plucks at the heart strings of her audience and shows them a little of what it must be like to be an Iraqi woman in the days of Saddam and Bush. Playing the Victim Playing the Victim is a Royal Court production that is directed by Richard Wilson and combines the writing of the Presnyakov Brothers and the acting of Told by an Idiot. It is an absurdist comedy set in Russia today, which humorously looks at the life of a professional "victim". When the police need someone to take the part of a victim in a crime reconstruction, the man that they go for is Valya, played by Andrew Scott. This is a man who could be a modern-day Oblomov, so lazy that he eats with chopsticks because his parents will have done the washing up before he finishes. We see his life with his downtrodden parents and, rather more excitingly, his professional roles. He is the sidekick to Paul Hunter's Inspector. The latter is a man at least as interested in pursuing his assistant, Hayley Carmichael as the filmmaker WPC, as he is in solving the series of crimes. These vary from a death in a swimming pool to doubly murderous sushi. This is a stylish production despite Nikolai Hart Hansen's deliberately drab set. It has the most entertaining scene changes in Edinburgh and good performances especially from Paul Hunter as the quirky Inspector and Andrew Scott as the bored hero. Baby Jane At the venerable age of 37, the radical People Show collective has now become a venerable institution. Their 113th offering is a meditation derived from the classic film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Four people seem to be trapped in some haunted studio where they act out scenes from the film to order. After seven years of this existence, their own behaviour shows significant influences from the film. The first scene is a tremendous fast forward through the film with histrionic, child-like commentary. This is both extremely funny and a useful introduction for those who are not too familiar with the film. The combination of the temperamental characters and the replaying of scenes from the film is generally entertaining. The play manages to get a fair way under the skin of the two stars of the film, both in character and in real life. There is also a fine exhibition of tap dancing; and a sultry, smoky song from chanteuse, Nicola Blackwell. This is an absolute must for film buffs and well worth a visit for those who like performance pieces or are just intrigued. |
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