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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2004 Reviews (21)Dogman Dogman is a "comedy musical drama for kids" adapted by John Dowie from his own book and with music by Neil Innes, who is best-known for his work with Monty Python. Once the audience is welcomed in by the cast, it is introduced to the boy whose father is always grumpy because the light from the lighthouse has kept him awake for fourteen years, and the couple who live in the lighthouse who have never had children. A spaceship lands, and Dogboy (part dog, part boy) gets out and is adopted by the couple, quickly growing up to be Dogman. Dogman and the boy later become friends and have a few adventures together, eventually solving the problems of the boy's father and Miss Miseryguts, making them into nice people. The performers are billed as "six top pedigree comedians" and include Tom Price in the title role, Richard Vranch as the father and Janice Phayre as the boy. Price gives a very energetic performance as Dogman and has a great deal of charisma. The other performers are Miranda Hart, Alyse Torrance and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. All play multiple roles and sing as well as playing music and creating sound effects from the side, and they are all very good at working the audience - both the children and the adults. The plot tends to meander about, but the pace and the energy are kept up and a lot is packed into this hour-long show, including plenty of audience participation. This quirky, funny show certainly kept all the children amused and
enthralled for the hour, but there were at least as many adult laughs
(not always at the same things) and adult singing voices as children's
during the show. This is a charming, entertaining, funny show for all
ages. David Chadderton The Wild Party The NSTC has done it again! Their music theatre company rarely puts a foot wrong at the Fringe and The Wild Party continues the success story. Based, so it is said, on the infamous Hollywood party which led to the arrest of Fatty Arbuckle, it tells a tale of excess, jealousy and murder. It is a sung-through musical and Andrew Lippa's score, contemporary in style but capturing the mood of the time, drives it forward relentlessly. With a cast of 23 and an on-stage band of six, it's a very big show in Fringe terms and the directors Iain Ormsby-Knox and Nick Phillips make excellent use of the very limited performance area. The four principals - Aimee Berwick (standing in for Jo Cook at the performance I saw), Stephen Fletcher, Siri Steinmo and Chris Grahamson - are well supported by the rest. There is not a weak link anywhere. I could write at great length about all aspects of the show but don't have the space (or the time!). Suffice it to say that is you like music theatre, you'll love this. Definitely not to be missed! Peter Lathan Losing Venice Polish director, Aldona Figura has put together a League of Nations to revive Edinburgh-based John Clifford's first play. The director is very strong on the physical theatre aspects of the production and is assisted by his multinational team of clowns, especially Bartosz Kopec, a recent graduate of the Theatre Arts Academy in St. Petersburg, in the role of Pablo. As the play opens, love is in the air in early seventeenth Century Spain. A duke is newly married to a blushing bride who tries everything to prevent consummation of the marriage. This is all observed by a prudish poet, Camillo Cabeza, wittily played by Carlo Iacucci, who is even more shocked by the antics of his servant, Pablo and his far more willing Maria. The duke's wife proposes a mission to take control of Venice and Don Quixote-like, the three men embark on a trip that will lead them to encounters with pirates, smelly sewers, the supernatural and ultimately a tilt at the Doge's throne. With a live, classical guitarist, talented actors and inventive direction, this is all great fun. The problem is that the plot tends to get subsumed by the clowning. By the abrupt ending, one is left with the impression of a rewarding experience but little conception of the outcome of the Duke's mission. This is a pity as with better balance, this play with its very modern outlook on love and war, could have been outstanding. Philip Fisher |
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