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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2003 Reviews (27)Bluebeard's Wives This is a one-woman show (plus Shaun Aston's eerie voice as Bluebeard) put together with obvious love and dedication. The set, a small area of Bluebeard's castle, is perfect and must have taken Odelia Lavie much effort to construct, while Lucille Acevado-Jones' costumes are lavish. The talented Faith Hagerty plays Sarah, the fourth wife of Bluebeard, the fairy tale villain made famous by the Grimms, Bartok, Angela Carter and Charles Perrault. The romantic Sarah rails against the last-named as a portrayer of too much happiness. While the setting may look traditional, Sarah is a spunky Liverpudlian with independent views. She originally married the dreadful Bluebeard for wealth and esteem but after a period stuck in his mysterious castle, wants no more from him than love. The three doors that confront Sarah initially contain symbolic objects but in a magical transformation change to rooms containing the shades of her three dead predecessors. They talk of dreadful lives with their stony husband but fail to persuade Sarah that love is beyond her. Under the imaginative direction of Rachel Grunwald, and with a production team of no less than 17, this is a very promising production which suggests that S.P.I.D. is a company to follow. The Gospel of Matthew We have all read parts of the Bible or at least have had the stories fed to us throughout our childhood. So what is presented here in The Gospel of Matthew is a little Bible and a little George Dillon. The “script” or “translation” is tight and scholarly. Mr. Dillon knows his stuff. His narrative, barring the “begats” that set up the chronology of characters leading up to Matthew and Jesus, is very straightforward. He enters the raw space in white with only the projection screen behind him. His delivery for the most part is of the fire and brimstone, bible thumping variety. Thrown in very briefly and jarringly are some modern references and reactions (a flip of the wrist or roll of the eyes) which jolt us out of the flow of the pieces. The lighting too often serves no other purpose than for variety as the changes are abrupt and do not seem to serve the piece. The projections, we assume, are biblical text in the beginning and very contemporary in the end, with videos of World War II concentration camps and more contemporary victims including one long shot of a homeless man. There is a section shot off the back of a train in fast motion. We even have some psychedelic light projections reminiscent of 70’s rock concerts. The script has a strong theatrical voice and Mr. Dillon has a strong presence & delivery. With a strong director's hand and unified voice, the text and performance would stand on its own without all the bells and whistles. Sholom Aleichem ~ Now You're Talking!
Part 2 This show is a real breath of fresh air after the sex, violence and cynicism of so much that is going on in Edinburgh. It is a piece of sheer escapism, a trip to a more innocent and charming time, or seemingly so. Saul Reichlin introduces his performance of eight or nine adaptations of short stories by setting them in context. The late 19th Century was not a good time to be a Russian Jew. It was a period of what is now called ethnic cleansing. That didn't seem to matter to the writer Sholom Aleichem, the man who wrote the story behind Fiddler on the Roof. He saw his fellow man clearly and could be relied upon to see the funny side of almost any event. This allows Reichlin, a very skilled character actor, to amuse his audience for an hour, taking on numerous roles as he relates stories of wise rabbis, runaway trains and the hungry and the drunk of the community. The finale and highlight is a tale of a man whose attempts to gain eternal life only leave him with an eternal mother-in-law. Saul Reichlin has made Sholom Aleichem his life's work over the last few years with great success. He is off on a four-month US tour after Edinburgh. He is bound to be a success with his great acting and gentle humour. |
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