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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2003 Reviews (11)The Girls of May The theory behind The Girls of May is great: a view of the Parisian riots of 1968 from a female perspective. However, this production is slight and does not have enough material for its hour. It contains some nice writing and moving moments as we see revolutionaries on the edge. There are young mothers and repressed twins. We also get a glimpse of their disapproving parents and police out for a laugh. There is a lot of film footage, some original, much of Paris today and a little from Genoa as the company tries to link Paris 1968 with the anti-globalisation protests of the last couple of years. We even get George W. Bush and Tony Blair though their presence is not really explained. Ultimately, this is a great idea that didn't quite make it. It would be good to see a beefed-up, expanded version derived from more eye-witness accounts next year. Ines de Castro Ines de Castro is a 14th Century love story with undertones of Greek tragedy. It tells the true story of a Spanish woman who became lover of the already married Prince Pedro of Portugal. Since the two countries were at war, her fate was inevitable. This young company have produced a solid version of John Clifford's play. Both the opening and close are visually striking and memorable. The star is George Potter as a sneering, suitably evil Pacheco, the king's Iago-like counsellor and the man that sends Ines (Sasha Brown) and her children to their deaths. Death himself turns up in a double-breasted suit to escort the heroine from the stage. This is a good story that has also been used by James McMillan as the basis for an opera and Cutting Edge are to be congratulated for bringing it back to Edinburgh. Twisted This psychological drama directed by Michael Emans may only last 40 minutes but it packs a real punch. Willis (Mike Tibbetts looking uncannily like Peter Stringfellow) has been in a secure institution for nine years. He killed a young woman and pleaded diminished responsibility. Anthony Neilson plays psychological games with his audience by depicting Willis' meeting with the doctor who will decide whether he is released now or will face at least one more year locked away. The question of whether he is safe or not is interesting as, although he has committed a single murder, Willis bears all of the traits of a serial killer. Is he safe, a man who had one moment of madness, or will he kill as soon as he is released? This may seem enough of a moral dilemma for one short play but Neilson takes things a stage further when he introduces a character weakness in the lady doctor, Kate Ebbing played by Lyn McAndrew. Suddenly, roles are swapped and the power is with Willis. Rapture have presented a finely acted and taut drama that asks really serious questions about morality. It may only last 40 minutes but it has more tension than the average TV thriller twice its length. |
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