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Fringe 2005 Reviews (13)
The Road to Pisa
Festival Highlights - The Black Sheep
Pleasance Courtyard
***(*)
The Road to Pisa is a latter day Road to show, along
the lines of The Road to Morocco, and has the same kind of zany
humour, along with a setting just a little bit reminiscent of Kiss
Me, Kate. A family of really not very good acrobats - mama (retired)
and two sons (along with their talking ass) - are joined by a glamorous
peasant as they take the road to Pisa where they hope to impress the
Duke.
There are lots of one-liners, unacrobatic acrobatics, watermelons,
much swapping of parts and a general air of craziness which clearly
appealed to the audience.
The performances are impeccable and there are some very funny moments.
One could describe it as middle-of-the-road theatre without doing it
injustice, for it has a specific audience in mind and that audience
(including this reviewer, who has happy memeories of Hope and Crosby
in the original movies) had a great time.
Peter Lathan
Antonio Forcione Quartet -
Tears of Joy
Assembly @ George Street, Edinburgh
*****
Antonio Forcione, like his friend Boothby Graffoe, is becoming something
of a fixture at the Fringe, which is good news for anyone in Edinburgh
who likes guitar-based jazz. His style is unique, his skill on the guitar
is amazing to watch and his music is wonderful to listen to.
The quartet is the same as last year, with Forcione on guitars, British
(via Grenada and Nigeria) cellist Jenny Adejayan, Russian Igor Outkine
on accordion and Brazilian percussionist Adriano Adewale, with the addition
of special guest Nathan Thompson on double bass. The show mixes tracks
from the latest album, Tears of Joy, with older favourites, including
the solo guitar piece Touch Wood, which always gets a roar from
the audience as Forcione gets an amazing range of sounds out of the
same instrument simultaneously.
Of course this is a quartet (a quintet, in fact, in this show) and
the other musicians are pretty impressive too. At one point, Forcione
affectionately mocked his percussionist for bringing in all sorts of
new toys to get sounds out of including a dried pumpkin - Adewale then
began the next track by hitting pieces of water pipe with flip-flops,
and got a really good sound out of them (it sounds very much like a
synthesised slap bass, in case you were wondering).
This is a great show with some wonderful music from musicians with
great humour and personality on stage as well as musical ability. Technically,
the sound is great and there is some very effective lighting that adds
atmosphere without distracting from the musicians. At the end of the
set on this particular night, the room shook as the audience stamped
its feet and shouted for more. I'm sure this will happen at many performances.
David Chadderton
Screwmachine/Eyecandy
By C.J. Hopkins
Assembly Rooms
*****
This show might offend but it is absolutely exhilarating. The pedigree
is there with a team that must have run out of space for Edinburgh Awards
in the trophy cabinet.
The play comprises an episode of the Big Bob Show, typical mindless
TV pap presented by the eponymous BB (David Calvitto). His contestants
on this occasion are Dan and Maura, played by Bill Coelius and Nancy
Walsh, ordinary folks from Hicksville in search of the eternal American
consumerist dream of cash and prizes.
On this occasion their lifetime dream doesn't run as planned. This
is because Bob appears to have become a God who is intent on destroying
the society that he has created. This is the game show as a metaphor
for life and CJ Hopkins' view appears to be that that life has diminished
to the point where it is becoming worthless.
Egged on by the unseen Chip and aided by 200lb plus Vera who belies
her name (both played by Mike McShane) , Bob's game is humiliation as
the increasingly bewildered couple try to understand the game and only
too late realise that the stakes are far higher than the price of a
toaster.
Whenever John Clancy is directing, the play will run at 500 mph and
this is certainly no exception. The word count is unbelievably high
as the show speeds up within its pop art set that could have been stolen
from the Flintstones.
Above all, Screwmachine/Eyecandy will be remembered for a long
time for David Calvitto's remarkable performance as Big Bob. He won
an award for Best Actor three years ago when he appeared in Horse
Country by the same writer and this performance is even better.
Where he gets the energy to do this on a daily basis is a mystery.
The other cast members are also impressive, especially Nancy Walsh
who gives Maura humanity, particularly in her final monologue, which
captures the unspeakable despair of a victim in a modern day Greek Tragedy.
Philip Fisher
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