|
Fringe 2005 Reviews (25)
Breath(e)
By Steve Lucas
Traverse 7, Grindlay Street
**
Breath(e), devised by Canadian company Theatre 2.0, advertises
itself as "a play without words or actors". It is far closer
to an artistic installation than a normal theatrical experience and
would sit better in a modern art gallery than a theatre.
The rehearsal room of the Royal Lyceum Theatre has been converted into
a 27 seat space for these hourly 35 minute shows.
After a period in complete darkness with only a constant heartbeat
to invade the senses, the curtain slowly rises on a kind of primordial
soup created with dry ice and clever lighting. The effect might be similar
to that of arriving on a far distant planet or possibly our own, long
before man came along.
Over the next half hour, the soup continues to swirl around, gradually
receding until eventually, the aural effect introduces the breath of
the title and at the last, a ray of light appears, reflected in liquid
beneath.
Breath(e) is an unusual and sometimes beautiful aural and visual
presentation that can be soothing. Its message is clouded but could
relate to the Creation. Whether it succeeds in living up to the hype
(Atom Egoyan was "mesmerised ... into an altered state of consciousness")
may be a subject of debate.
Philip Fisher
Guided Tour
By Peter Reder
Traverse 5, McEwan Hall
****
What starts as a guided tour of a venerable old Edinburgh institution
develops into a trip to a completely different location.
The McEwan Hall is a very impressive building that was built as part
of Edinburgh University in the period from 1889 to 1897. Now it is used
for ceremonial occasions such as graduations and little else.
Our guide, the laid-back Peter Reder, presents a potted history of
the building and its endowment by a brewing millionaire. After quarter
of an hour, he explains that this wasn't part of the "show"
and that the real thing is only now about to commence.
His chosen subject is the nature of and relationship between memory,
history and their modern cousin, heritage.
Starting outside the building's lavatories, the tour travels no further
than basement level, as we are introduced to William McEwan and his
peer group and then an obscure and unknown French artist. It eventually
dawns on the punters that at least part of what they are being told
and shown may lack true historical authenticity.
By the time that Reder reaches a slideshow of his family in the seventies,
the McEwans and their edifice are long forgotten. The last ten minutes
are spent watching a video that distorts but reminds viewers of the
previous hour's tour.
This is a most unusual piece of theatre, performance art or touring
depending upon your taste. Whatever it is, Guided Tour does achieve
its announced Proustian goal of making the audience re-evaluate the
nature of memory and history and the relationship between the two.
Philip Fisher
The Coming of Gowf
PG Wodehouse
Gilded Balloon Teviot
***
This is a surefire hit, as it is bound to appeal to golfers everywhere.
The show takes a number of PG Wodehouse's golf stories and melds them
into an hour and a quarter of dramatic fun.
The staging is almost inevitably uneven but the finest stories tend
to involve ladies. The best is the challenge for the hand of the gorgeous
Miss Trivett, which consists of a single hole that is 16 miles long.
A shame that nobody told her about it.
Close behind is the "gel" who attracted one of the many chinless
wonder by misleading him into believing that her champion status was
on the golf links rather than the croquet lawn.
The feel is authentic with plus fours and even hickory-shafted clubs
abounding. The audience also gets involved to the extent of ducking
as balls are hit amongst them. Luckily these are softer than the norm.
The whole cast has a tendency towards shouting and over-acting but
are held together well by wily old Wayne "Pickles" Norman,
who can also give a few useful tips to high handicappers.
As one would expect from Wodehouse, there are a lot of rather tedious
upper class types depicted and this can get a little wearing. Overall,
this will prove a golfer's delight that will also appeal to the uninitiated,
though they may need to read the programme's glossary before they tee
off.
Philip Fisher
Next
page - - - Index
|
