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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2004 Reviews (20)NewsRevue Newsrevue is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the world's longest-running live comedy show, now celebrating twenty-five years at the Canal Café Theatre in London. In celebration of this, their Edinburgh show this year, instead of its usual highlights of the past year's sketches and songs, is a compilation of their most enduring material from the past quarter century.
Any fans of TV satire such as Have I Got News For You or Rory Bremner should take a look at Newsrevue. Although the quality of material can be variable, most in this show is as good as, if not better than, its TV equivalents. David Chadderton Antonio Forcione Quartet This performance ended with a standing ovation from at least half of the audience, which was well-deserved, before an impressive encore. Antonio Forcione has a unique style, at times appearing to be playing lead, rhythm and bass guitar plus percussion all on one electric acoustic guitar at the same time. If nothing else, it is impressive to watch him play, as his hands become a blur moving all over the guitar getting different sounds from different parts of the instrument (it isn't surprising that he has to retune after every number). However this is not just a demonstration of technical skills; he also manages to produce an amazing sound. On top of all this he has a good stage personality, and even introduces a lot of humour into some of his pieces. Although Forcione, originally from Italy, is undoubtedly the star, he also has three great musicians with him to complete the quartet: Jenny Adejayan from Grenada on cello, Igor Outkine from Russia on accordion and Adriano Pinto from Brazil on percussion. Each gets a chance to show his or her abilities as more than just an accompanist at some point during the show, and they seem to have a great rapport between them that goes beyond the music. Despite the cramped, uncomfortable seating at St George's West, the audience was reluctant to let the quartet go at the end, and there was quite a queue for signed CDs afterwards. Antonio Forcione is an amazing musician whose unique style has to be seen and heard to be fully appreciated. David Chadderton Animal Farm There are some Fringe shows which attain almost mythic proportions, returing time and time again and still getting enthusiastic audiences. Such a show is Guy Masterson's version of Orwell's Animal Farm, a one-man show.But what a one-man show - two hours long, without an interval. This year he performs it only once, surprisingly to a house which is just half-full - although the Music Room is a pretty massive venue by Fringe standards. The reason, almost certainly, is lack of publicity: it is not in the Fringe programme listings and is only mentioned, briefly, at the end of a large ad for Cuckoo's Nest. However a substantial proportion of that half-full house gave him a standing ovation, and well-deserved, too, for it is a real tour de force. Masterson's playing is very physical: each of the myriad characters has its own typical stance, body language, facial expression and voice. It's easy to see why this show has been performed over 700 times since its first appearance in 1995. But it's not just the enduring appeal of Orwell's story or Masterson's excellent performance: it is the relevance to the world as it is in 2004 which, by a number of deft and subtle touches, he makes very clear. This is not an historical piece about a long dead dictator or even a more recently dead empire: the message is that our much vaunted western democracy faces exactly the same dangers and you don't need to be living in a dictatorship to be manipulated by mind control and a revisionist approach to history. Peter Lathan |
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