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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2003 Reviews (25)The Return The first three-quarters of this play are superb. It is carefully plotted, well structured and paced, and has a really edgy feel. The set is effective, the acting universally good and Geordie Brookman's direction tight. Two ex-cons Steve, played by Alistair Scott-Young and Trev by Roman Vaculik, are on the late night train from Perth to Fremantle. They are joined by a pretty law student, Lisa, and chat her up. Trev is backward, Steve could easily be a philosopher. They have some fun at the expense of Melanie Vallejo's Lisa but all is pretty harmless. There is an open question though as the guards are on strike so the train and its passengers are unprotected. As the second scene opens, there are two more passengers, the doughty Maureen who has just left her husband, and a mysterious man, quietly writing in a corner. When things begin to get out of hand, Maureen steps in to protect Lisa. The tone changes completely when the thugs bring their attention to the silent man. He is a writer and the ex-cons don't take kindly to being used as prospective subjects in his play. Suddenly, everything changes to comic melodrama and coincidences pile up. This is a very talented company that has brought the production over from Adelaide to great acclaim. Up to a point, the accolades are more than justified. Victoria Station Victoria Station is a strange little piece by Harold Pinter that is made considerably stranger by Lizard Factory's imaginative production directed by Dimitar Nedkov. This is a two-hander about a mini cab driver and his controller. They struggle to communicate with each other and the search for Victoria Station and the fare is problematical. The controller is less sinister than many Pinter equivalents and is at a loss when he tries to give up on the driver and find an alternative. There is, thoug, a happy escapist ending. This version is the idea of Bulgarian Valentin Ratchev, who plays the controller opposite Robert Allwood's Driver. They are dressed as snorkellers complete with stripy wetsuits, masks and flippers. They are lit by torches and this gives what is already an odd play an extra level of surreality helped by smoke and bubbles! This is a really different experience even for Edinburgh and at half an hour is well worth slotting into the busiest schedule. One Two One Two is musical theatre for the intellectual; the theme being numbers; what they mean and how we use them. The stage has an interesting array of musical instruments and scaffolding supporting video projection screens. These very talented musicians (Nick Powell, Jonny Dawe, Ruth Gottlieb and Sarah Willson) move in and out of the spaces depending on which instruments are being used. The actors (Sharon Smith and the charismatic Faroque Khan) move throughout the stage level space as well as up, down and across the scaffolding. As an audience member with no expectations, the opening is extremely rough going. There are two bright lights pointing out, inhibiting the vision of the audience. And the actors speak so softly over the music that it is difficult to understand what they are saying. It isn’t until these lights are off and it becomes clear that they are simply counting that the material emerges. And a story of sorts or theme starts to emerge. The most profound idea relayed is that, upon meeting someone for the first time, the “potential relationships are infinite. It is “when talking that things go wrong.” After you start a conversation, a relaying of information, those first words spoken rapidly diminish the infinite to one and two. This is a highly polished production, with strong music and musicians. The theme is interestingly explored. There are multiple visual and auditory clues coming at us through the entire piece. But we must work from the very beginning; there are no free rides here. |
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