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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2004 Reviews (27)The Crimson Corset The Crimson Corset features some pretty dresses…well, two. The corset itself isn't that good looking, either. What it doesn't feature is interesting drama. There was no programme available nor were the actresses' names available on the press release, but that's probably for the best, as this way all I can say is that the character of Crimson was portrayed in a slightly less annoying way than the sanctimonious one-note Mary. Then again, she was on stage less. This is supposed to be a play about women's lib and gender roles, but the hour-long performance is so excruciatingly pointless that by the end of the show more than one audience member was looking at their watch. American audience members who are into staid English drama might enjoy the first ten minutes of this show; after that, the monotony just carries on for too long. Some of this is due to failings in the script, which skirts issues
from young love and arranged marriage to the suffregette's movement
to eating disorders and the question of body image to sexual perversion
to drinking, without ever really following a thread through to a dramatic
conclusion. But this weak script is not helped by poor direction (the
director's name is also not available on the press release), and the
acting doesn't help much either. Three Bar Solo Three Bar Solo is set in a failing jazz club, and it begins where the manager Richard (David Oakes) is desperately trying to persuade people from the brewery to invest in his plans for expansion. Unfortunately the pianist Luke (Tom Guest) picks the same night to turn up late and the waitress Krissy (Susannah Tresilian) hits the drink while she is working, after an argument with her jealously possessive boyfriend. The other characters in the play are Colin (Jim Bradshaw), the nice-but-slightly-annoying doorman, and "B" (Helen Spencer), the jazz singer who believes that to be a jazz diva she must be nasty to everyone else. The production also contains a six-piece jazz band on stage in the club, plus vocals from Spencer. She has a great voice and the band produces a wonderful sound. There are also some great performances from the actors and some lovely writing from scriptwriter Ted Moore, who also plays percussion. As a whole, the script needs some careful editing as some parts work better than others. The best scenes were where Krissy opens up to Colin after the club has shut, and the morning after when she is talking to Luke and Colin has clearly got the idea that their conversation the night before meant more than she intended it to. The nicely-written dialogue is accompanied by tender, subtle and often funny performances from the three actors involved. There are some problems with the staging, as the club tables are so far downstage that it is difficult to see the action in this area unless you are sat on the front row. Some sections of the play take place in this area while the band is playing, and a large proportion of the spectators would not be able to see or hear what is happening. Although there are some reservations, the parts that work do so very well, both in the drama and in the music, and there are some wonderful performances from the actors and musicians in this young company. "Three Bar Solo" tours to Oxford & Manchester in September & October. David Chadderton Curry Tales Traverse has taken to the road again. Not this time matched his and hers public conveniences but an Indian Restaurant on the Shore in Leith. To be exact, Rani Moorthy's one-woman show Curry Tales takes place above the sizeable Raj Restaurant. This is a show that is capitalising on the popularity of watching people cook on TV. It is only a matter of time before the theatre sees a spate of shows with people digging gardens or decorating rooms! Watching people living is called performance art and arrived some 40 years before Big Brother and all of his cousins. The recipe is simple. Miss Moorthy takes on half a dozen different parts and cooks curries that reflect the characters and their backgrounds. We start and finish in the New Delhi restaurant of the snobbish Dimple (her son is Simple) Melwani, dressed in a immaculate turquoise sari. Like coals to Newcastle, she believes that it is time to return curry to Delhi. Over the next ninety minutes, we get through the man-eating Rosemary with her revenge curry; the best of the lot, a street girl who charms though she speaks no English; a busy businesswoman, an Indian Malay who is literally tied to her cooker and, at the last, Dimple's transsexual chef. Rani Moorthy cooks as she goes and lucky audience members get to sample the varied fare. She is a good character actor and makes some interesting social comment as she cooks and talks food. If you love Madhur Jaffrey, go and see Curry Tales. |
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