|
Fringe 2005 Reviews (46)
Birth of the Cool
Conceived and written by John Turnbull and Camilla Rountree
Ideas Australia Pty Ltd
Gilded Balloon Teviot
****
This is a bit of a cheat: Birth of the Cool is not really theatre,
although listed as such in the Fringe programme. It is biographical
narrative, poetry, extracts from books, and bebop jazz. The poetry and
novel extracts come from the Beats - Ginsberg, Ferlingetti, Kerouac,
Burroughs and others - and is performed by co-writer John Turnbull,
and the original music, in the true bebop style, is composed by Paul
Cutlan (saxophones and clarinets), who also leads the three piece band,
the other members of which are Fabian Hevia (percussion and vibrophone)
and Steve Arié (bass).
For those who, like me, were hooked on the Beats in their youth (yes,
I was around then!) and were very definitely hip to the music of Dizzy
Gillespie, Charlie "Bird" Parker and - for me, at any rate,
the greatest of them all - Miles Davis, this was an irresistible combination.
I just had to see it and, when I saw it, just had to love it! All I
needed was a black turtle-neck and a beret!
Actually, it's more than nostalgia. These performers are tremendous:
Turnbull really evokes the spirit of the era in all its brilliance and
decadence, that mixture of the exciting and the sordid, whilst the music,
altough original, is the real thing.
If you aren't a fan, particularly of bebop, then this show may well
not be for you, but even for non-aficionados the driving power
of the music will have its effect. So why not five stars? Simply because
of its limited appeal.
Peter Lathan
Product
By Mark Ravenhill
Traverse 2
****
"Scorch me with your groin of fire" may not be quite the
kind of writing that might be expected from one of our finest playwrights.
Mark Ravenhill has made his name with sexually explicit plays about
society on the edge such as Shopping and F***ing and Mother
Clap's Molly House. His 45-minute monologue at the Traverse is therefore
something of a surprise.
Product is a monologue with a cast of two. Elizabeth Baker has
the unenviable task of playing silent Amy, a surly Britt Ekland who
listens disdainfully to a proposal from a blockbuster movie producer.
Mark Ravenhill outlines the comically-bad Mohammed and Me. This is
a tale of an attractive young Londoner who falls for the "dusky"
Arab of the title on a plane and in no time has invited him (and the
whole of his Al Qaeda cell) into her bedroom. Soon, everyone has become
a human bomb and poor Amy has to choose between life and love.
Product may have two aims. First, it makes an oblique comment
on the terrorism currently affecting the world and now London. Secondly,
it cruelly lampoons dreadful Hollywood blockbuster movies, ripping into
their shallowness and unthinking tactlessness.
One also suspects that Mr Ravenhill could not resist the opportunity
to perform his party piece in front of a packed audience and even to
show off his questionable singing voice. He gets away with all of this
because Product is very funny and hits its target squarely between
the eyes.
Philip Fisher
The Magnets - Magnetude
Assembly @ St George's West
***
The Magnets is a six-membered a cappella group; James Fortune,
Nic Doodson, Michael Welton, Steve Trowell, Colin Griffiths-Brown and
Andy Frost; all good solid singers who work well together. In sharp
black suits and ties reminiscent of the 50s, they give us a brief history
of the group; where they were before they got involved with the group
and how they came together. This is a good vehicle for us to understand
their individual strengths and contributions to the group. We also get
a history, with liberties, of a cappella groups going back to
Gregorian musicians.
The music is engaging and crowd-pleasing. To their credit, the Magnets
have found songs that are familiar to most, like the Righteous Brothers'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", Hall and Oates' "I
Can't Go For That", and Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean";
none of the traditional classics from the 30's, 40's and 50's that are
the meat and potatoes of many a cappella groups.
That the Magnets are among the cream of the a cappella groups
is evident by the audience's response. But it is in no small part the
percussion by Andy Frost that has brought them that distinction. And
the seventh member of this group, John Milner, who handles the sound
with aplomb.
They have to their credit voiceovers by Jacqueline Pearce and Ian McKellen
- as god, who else? The direction by Laurie Sansom, often interesting,
at times seems not to trust the group to pull it off without some trite
tricks; like having the singers flying model planes through "Danger
Zone" and "Take My Breath Away". These men can carry
it on their own. A nod also to the graphics used in the program and
through the individual histories; vague sketches of head with little
unique touches like glasses or spiked hair and linked together; a great
an memorable signature for the group.
Catherine Lamm
Next
page - - - Index
|
