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Fringe 2005 Reviews (11)
Jump (Where Comedy Meets Combat)
Yam Gam Inc (Soeul, South Korea)
Assemby@Assembly Hall
*****
This is probably the most exhiliarating 'family show' I've ever seen.
It is literally about a Korean family, grandpa, mum and dad, teenager
son (a bit of a boozer), pretty teenage daughter and the guest who arrives
to woo her. Grandpa is a bit authoritarian and puts the family through
their paces, martial arts paces that is, and we are treated to a display
of the athletic talents that make the grand progenitor proud. The daughter's
suitor is a bit of a dark horse too. Seemingly a myopic wimp, when his
thick, ugly glasses are removed he goes through a shuddering transformation
into a lusty Jet Li.
The plot thickens when a couple of burglars break into the house in
the middle of the night; one a sleak, mean villain, the other a plump
dimwit with scarey hair. When the family discovers the intruders a mighty
battle ensues which takes just about every possible comic twist in the
book and a host of new ones to boot, including shooting the stage manager.
This is slapstick like you've never seen it before, with sight gags
lifted onto another plane through martial arts, acrobatics and sword
play. There is also some parody of the Kung Fu and WuXi films that is
highly entertaining. The sheer dynamism of this company makes the spirits
soar. It is invigorating stuff from a cast of considerable generosity.
Not only are their acrobatic feats impressive, but they are cultural
ambassadors, reminding us appropriately at an international festival
that laughter transcends specifics of cultural and nationality.
Go and see this show and take all your family and friends, too. They
will love you forever
Jackie Fletcher
Come Again - The World of
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
by Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde
Assembly @ George Street, Edinburgh
***(*)
Come Again got into the news recently for auctioning items donated
by people such as Ricky Gervais, David Renwick, Ken Dodd, Andrew Sachs
and Dawn French on eBay to raise money for the production. It is based
around the difficult relationship between Peter Cook and Dudley Moore,
particularly on the reasons for them breaking up.
The play centres on a talk show in the 1980s when Dudley is being interviewed
in the UK to plug his new film. Bits of the history of Beyond The
Fringe and Pete and Dud appear in flashback during the interview.
Eventually Peter appears in the studio as a surprise guest - which Dudley
does not appear too pleased about - and after a few more flashbacks
to complete their story they are left to resolve their differences in
the dressing room.
As a biographical play, this is a fairly standard chronological trudge
through selected highlights of the pair's career; the interview is really
only a framing device to provide linking narration between scenes and
an excuse to bring the two characters together at the end to talk over
their differences. While it is entertaining, it does not provide a great
insight into its subjects or their work, portraying Cook merely as a
cruel bully and Moore as a victim who managed to triumph against adversity
and persecution.
There are some good performances in the production, particularly from
Kevin Bishop as Moore, who has reproduced Moore's voice and mannerisms
well. Scott Handy is also very good as Cook, and Alexander Kirk is embarrassingly
cheesy (intentionally) as the talk show host Tony Ferguson. The cast
is completed by Fergus Craig and Colin Hoult, who play Alan Bennett
and Jonathan Miller plus a range of other characters.
While not a great play, this production is well performed and entertaining.
There is, of course, added value for anyone who knows the work of Cook
and Moore - the suggestion of a funny voice or the mention of a particular
line that would mean nothing to the uninitiated produced gales of laughter
from those in the audience who appreciated the origin of these quotations.
David Chadderton
An Evening of Shel Silverstein
Broad Ripple Theatre
By Shel Silverstein
Greenside
**
Although Shel Silverstein is an author known to most Americans for
his poetry books Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light In the
Attic, not to mention the famous book The Giving Tree, the
name doesn't seem to ring many bells this side of the Atlantic. His
brand of peculiar children's poetry might be likened to that of Roahl
Dahl, but Silverstein has a strange flair all his own.
Strange, then, to learn that the author of poems with titles like The
Me Who and the Exactly What has also written a series of sketches
for grown-ups. The sketches here range from One Tennis Shoe,
in which Sylvia (Eva D'Ambrosio) is told by Harvey (Matt Downden) that
she's turning into a bag lady (and he's got the oatmeal to prove it!)
to the story of a couple worn-out hookers so desperate for custom they're
offering a buy one, get one free sale.
Most of the stories have a clever concept, but in most cases the inane
dialogue goes on too long, and it's left to the actors to keep the audience
engaged - a task which seemed simple enough on their opening night,
as the room was packed with other American teens, but may prove more
difficult on subsequent dates. Silverstein's real talent shines through
in Buy One Get One Free, where the insane pace of his rhymes
overcomes even fumbles suffered by the actresses as they trip over their
lines. Other sketches, such as Thinking Up A New Name for the Act,
are downright irritating.
Rachel Lynn Brody
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