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Fringe 2005 Reviews (49)
Sisters
By Declan Hassett
Assembly Rooms
****
We have known for a long time that Anna Manahan is a great actress.
One of her greatest roles was as the wicked mother in Martin McDonagh's
The Beauty Queen of Leenane, still unforgettable ten or so years
on.
Sisters was written with her in mind and allows her to play
two very contrasting women, albeit linked by ties of blood. The sisters
are reaching their three score years and ten and have the symbolically
biblical names of Mary and Martha.
Martha is first up, a disappointed woman celebrating her seventieth
birthday alone. She reflects on her love for a philandering father and
hatred of a mother with inappropriate airs and graces. Her own life
has been one of drudgery and a failure to find love in a rural Ireland
from which everyone is departing for the big cities.
Mary is the good sister who loved her mother and emulates her with
Tory MP diction and dress. Though she made it to the big city and a
career as a teacher, her life has been equally unfulfilled. She has
also been unhappy in love with a high/low point of a brief affair and
shameful abortion.
Sisters has a twist in the tail that is unexpected and colours
the two monologues. They in turn illuminate each other and Miss Manahan's
performance, directed by Michael Scott, is faultlessly gripping.
Philip Fisher
All My Love, All My Rage
Brendon Burns
Pleasance Dome
****
From the moment I heard of Brendon Burns many years ago now, a rising
stand-up star who was hailed as being the new Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks
(two of the best ever in my mind), I knew I had to see if this man could
live up to a reputation like that. Brendon Burns did not live up to
the reputation he was carrying; he went far beyond with a new creation
of comedy. Speaking his mind and not caring if you agree or not, dissecting
every taboo and making you understand just why he feels the way he does.
The only thing that made this man like Bruce or Hicks was that he would
go down as one of the greats of his generation.
After many years in Edinburgh with his stand up performances, Burns
last year turned his hand to creating a more theatrical piece with Burnsy
vs Brendon, an hilarious show looking at the warring split personalities
of the comedian. That was the first part of his new trilogy, the second
being All My Love, All My Rage. This time round he lets us into
his world of pain, which is the result of the love of his life, his
ex fiancée, leaving him for a DJ. He takes us through the heart
breaking moment he found out moments before he was to step out to perform
at Glastonbury, to his mass mushroom enhanced attempt to prove to her
he is fine without her.
The show has its emotional highs and lows which shows that Burns has
good dramatic ability, able to hold the audience and create the mood
he requires. Not many stand-up comedians can cope with dead stage time,
moments when they are not saying anything. Burns shows that he is not
afraid to let the audience wait for a gag, he is not afraid to let them
see him have thoughts. This makes it more natural, rather than feeling
as if he is just going through a script in his head. He has always been
a stand-up not afraid of telling you what's on his mind and how he feels.
This is no exception as he goes all out venting his anger and disgust
for DJ's, his dislike for his son's schoolteachers and his delight in
finding something special on his nephew's video camera.
All My Love, All My Rage is a show that again offers a dramatic
and hilarious performance from Brendon Burns but its does not have the
depth that Burnsy Vs Brendon had. However Burns himself does
have great depth and is a comedian who just keeps getting better.
Wayne Miller
Fit Piece
Unfit Productions
Pleasance Courtyard
***(*)
Fit Piece advertises itself with the slogan "Fitness is
the new sex". It is only thirty minutes long and when it began
with Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls, I confess that my heart sank.
Was this going to be just a sketch show? Not my favourite theatrical
form, I have to say.
It isn't. It is a real play, a two-hander, set in and around a gym.
The two characters are "lardcake" Louise and her ex-army "personal
trainer". Louise's friend is always finding the "new sex"
and Louise always goes along with her, but this time, when friend moves
on, Louise doesn't.
In half an hour Fit Piece explores issues of self-image, power
and obsession in fairly black comic sort of way. It is well performed
and enjoyable: starting at 1.15, it's a good way to start a Fringe day.
Peter Lathan
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