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Fringe 2005 Reviews (52)
Five Kinds of Silence
By Shelagh Stevenson
Greenside
***
When student companies select plays, it may be a mistake to choose
a piece in which every character is at least ten years older than any
actor. However well you might perform, the audience will struggle to
suspend their disbelief.
Five Kinds of Silence is an excellent play and under directors
Rebecca Sandy and Alexander Freeman it has real power to shock.
It is hard to imagine that two daughters in their mid-thirties could
shoot their father with mother calmly spectating. Harder still to accept
after they have admitted the crime, the authorities would let them go
without a stain on their characters.
Shelagh Stevenson's clever drama demonstrates that where the murdered
man (victim is hardly the right word) is a vicious control freak with
a taste for incest this can happen.
Miss Stevenson gets under the skins of all four family members. Dead
Billy is still able to communicate with us from beyond the grave. His
behaviour is unspeakable but is a case of the sins of the father being
replicated by the son. The mother, Mary, was brought up as a victim
and faced such brutal treatment and horrendous threats that she could
not ring alarm bells.
Strangest and saddest of all are the two daughters who had known nothing
other than abuse and threats throughout their lives.
This young company should be thanked for bringing this play back into
the public eye and acquit themselves well. They all perform ably with
Natalie Hewit as the mother the pick.
Philip Fisher
Life in Show
By Catherine O'Shea
Underbelly
***
Lfe in Show is a not entirely successful mix of theatrical history
and modern drama. In simple terms, the former works well, in part thanks
to the talents of a good young cast, while the latter offers little
that is fresh.
A team of actors is rehearsing a play to take up to Edinburgh. It investigates
the fascinating life of Susannah Cibber, the (in)famous actress who
plays opposite David Garrick onstage but experiences the unthinkable
at home.
Her husband, Theophilus Cibber (son of Colly), marries her in a Faustian
pact whereby his name projects her to stardom but in return he takes
the money. When this proves inadequate, he sells her body (still alive)
to William Sloper. Unfortunately for the kindly husband, wife and enforced
lover fall for each other.
This scenario allows the actors, led by Alice Trueman, to show off
their skills. Miss Trueman also gets a solo slot in which to demonstrate
that she also has a powerful, breathy soprano voice.
The modern story is of a drunken party rape that divides the cast and
threatens the Edinburgh opening. Played out partly in the theatre and
partly on video, this fails to comment in any significant way on the
historical drama and remains unresolved.
The conclusion at the end of an enjoyable hour is that playwright Catherine
O'Shea should stick with historical dramas as they will both showcase
the talents of this group of actors and her own.
Philip Fisher
Stuck up a Tree
By Rachel Lynn Brody
Royal Botanical Gardens
****
This delightful children's show has enough wit and subtlety to entertain
adults as well as keep the tiniest of their charges quiet.
The two narrators could have come straight from a Celtic CBeebies show.
Scot Cameron Mowat and his Welsh partner Ceri Mill have that unmistakable
air of jauntiness that is de rigueur on tiny tots' TV.
They come upon a knotty problem, as they meet a Scandinavian tree played
by Andreas Vaehi and its little resident, Hazel Darwin-Edwards' bird,
that refuses to leave her beloved tree to travel South for the winter.
The solution that they hit upon is to entice the birdie down, Sheherezade
style, by telling her stories.
We hear about a lonely Goblin, a smelly frog, those old friends heather
and thistle, and, best of all, a horrible boy played by Mowat who gets
his comeuppance with the help of a hissing snake and Miss Darwin-Edwards
as an extremely funny fairy princess.
With the assistance of actor-guitarist Scott Hoatson, they talk the
bird down and lead up to the happiest of endings.
The use of the exhibition hall at the Royal Botanical Gardens is excellent
as are the colourful costumes and props.
Stuck up a Tree is nicely scripted by BTG reviewer Rachel Lynn
Brody and director Emma Taylor ensures that the pace is maintained to
the satisfaction of the youngest of spectators.
Finally a small warning. This show overran by ten minutes. Be careful
or, like the reviewer, you may well miss your next show.
Philip Fisher
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