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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2004 Reviews (51)Waiting... Dave Duggan has been nominated for an Oscar and from the quality of his writing in this edgy political drama, which lasts a mere 40 minutes, one can see why. This two-hander about a Protestant man and a Catholic woman is packed with metaphors about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The bus-stop at which they meet and wait has been blown up and it does not take long for the plot to develop into a fascinating debate about sectarian violence and the need to carry on with life however painful this might be. The superb Jonathan Burgess plays a man who has lost his wife to a bomb and will never understand how somebody could do this to another human being. Patricia Byrne plays an IRA sympathizer with whom he finds himself intimately connected. As they wait for their bus, they play a number of games, cards, monopoly and dice but the real cat-and-mouse game that they are unwittingly drawn into is far deeper and more meaningful. These two represent each side in this long war and by the end, it is clear that there are no winners. Waiting may be a very short piece but it has deep resonances that remain in the mind long after it finishes. This is the kind of play that makes people think and its strongest suit is in showing how each of the protagonists can help the other to a deeper understanding of themselves, their beliefs and their lives. This kind of play should be compulsory viewing for the bombers on both sides of the political bomb crater that is Northern Ireland. Maybe then, they will begin to understand the human cost of a terrible conflict. Philip Fisher Manchester Girl Manchester Girl has already been graced with a Fringe First in the second week of the festival. Its slick production qualities and a tremendous performance from the playwright, not to mention a ridiculously tight costume, must have been the key factors in the award. Sue Turner-Cray spent five years as a model, keeping her weight down on diet pills and worse, to ensure that she never slipped up to anything as scary as a Size 2. She has put her experiences of the ups and downs of life on the catwalk into an incredibly pacy and often funny one-woman show. If nothing else, she has retained the fitness levels that must have been a necessity in her past career. She also demonstrates remarkable agility on a trapeze. Sarah Taylor is a Leicester girl who gravitated to Manchester in, what judging by the music, must have been the late 1970s or just after. She doesn't want to be tied down by a husband, babies or the sock factory and once she realises that she is "the pretty one" in almost any company, she auditions for a job as a model. From there, after a tedious time in an agency she is snapped up and transported to Japan, where she really gets into the modelling lifestyle. Parties, drugs and abortions are de rigueur and love is never likely to last. Following more than one inevitable tragedy, Sarah eventually comes to her senses and becomes a writer and the rest is very literally history. Sue Turner-Cray is a really great performer as one might expect from somebody with her experience. In particular, with wind machine blowing and spotlights set she looks stunning as cameras flash. She also writes good witty dialogue and has the character actress's ability to play numerous parts and differentiate clearly between them. Philip Fisher The Lifeblood In The Lifeblood, Glyn Maxwell takes on territory that has already been explored by other playwrights and, in particular, Schiller in his Mary Stuart. The last days of the French Queen who wished to take Elizabeth's crown are fascinating, as they give an opportunity to review the lives and battles of these two strong women. They also shed a light on the political machinations and treachery of Elizabethan times. An excellent cast in modern dress, marshalled by Guy Retallack, view the ups and downs of a queen who soon realises that her son, King James of Scotland, has signed a pact with her mortal enemy and thus that she is doomed. Poor Mary struggles to find allies as first, her secretary Claude Arno, played by Peter Hamilton Dyer and then her hope of escape, the charming Sir Thomas George (Henry Luxemburg) turn out to be keener on saving their own lives than hers. In fact, the only entirely straight men are the two who are consistently opposed to her. Paul Goodwin as Sir Amyas Paulet, a puritan through and through and her gaoler, and Elizabeth's man Sir Francis Walsingham, played by Chris Gilling, may condemn her but they do it honestly. Eventually, the three men closest to Mary find themselves in a single prison cell and their reactions to their potential fates are greatly instructive, if a little contrived. The Lifeblood is well acted and directed and draws fine performances, in particular from Sue Scott Davison as the imprisoned Queen. It gives an interesting insight into the life of a fascinating character, although whether it is entirely necessary when the great German playwright got there a couple of hundred years before, might be open to question. Retallack and designer Dora Schweitzer make very good use of the space in the bomb shelter that is a Gilded Balloon Cave. In particular, the trial scene which uses the audience as jury is very effectively and chillingly put together. Philip Fisher |
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