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Fringe 2006 Reviews (8)
The
Tempest
By William Shakespeare
Eyeball Theatre
C Too
****
Eyeball's Tempest is not exactly faithful to Shakespeare's original
text, but tries to put across Shakespeare's story in the company's own
distinctive style. The company's name refers to its philosophy that
theatre should not just be about words but should have a major visual
element, and so many of the extensive cuts in the dialogue have been
replaced by something physical and visual to keep the plot intact.
This production opens not with a storm but with the island waking up,
the sounds and movements of the animals and birds created by the four
Ariels (Lea Pascal, Andrew Johnson, Seth Ewin and Holly Harris, who
also accompanies on violin), before Caliban (Anselm Ibing) emerges from
behind a wall of books wearing a large (realistic) phallus and attacks
the sleeping Miranda (Becky Palmstrom) before being stopped by her father
Prospero (Ayman Oghanna). Not a word is spoken for the first ten minutes,
but it is still interesting to watch.
Many of these visual touches are woven into the story: the shipwreck
is shown in shadow through the Brechtian white half-curtain; Prospero's
tale of how he was deposed is shown as he tells it using stuffed dolls
on one of the wooden planks from the shipwreck, which also become bookshelves
and many other things; Miranda uses a spell from her father's book to
freeze Ferdinand (Chris Zegel) so she can examine and then kiss him
without him knowing; shadow puppets show Prospero what is happening
to some of the others elsewhere on the island. All of this is co-ordinated
by the Ariels, dressed in green and brown leotards, making things appear
and disappear or changing them into something else.
The company describes itself as 'a rag-tag group of students, graduates
and academics, none of which have any professional training but all
of whom have theatrical pretensions'. Despite being untrained amateurs,
this is a slick and imaginative production from director James Hartman
with totally committed performances all round from a talented cast.
Lea Pascal is excellent as Alonso, Sam Wilkin turns in a very good comic
performance as Trinculo the jester, Ayman Oghanna has a silky smooth,
commanding voice and presence as Prospero and Rebecca Palmstrom and
Chris Zegal are also very good as the young couple Miranda and Ferdinand.
Anselm Ibing's Caliban works fine sometimes, but occasionally there
is a bit too much strutting and growling and playing with himself.
Eyeball is, if you will pardon the pun, a company to watch, as it is
an amateur company with a very fresh approach to theatre. There are
no doubt many other companies performing in this physical style on the
Fringe, but probably not as well as this very young ensemble. Their
Tempest is very entertaining, visually appealing and at times
very funny and is well worth a visit.
David Chadderton
Cinzano
By Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Broken House Drama
Underbelly
***
Three friends get together to share a drink. Or two. Or twenty. Over
the course of the play, the three argue about money and discuss their
relationships while getting progressively more inebriated. They're played
with varying degrees of competency, with Will Peebles the most natural
of the actors. Petrushevskaya's text holds one's interest while the
production examines the reasons behind the three men's desire to immerse
themselves in their beloved alcohol.
Rachel Lynn Brody
Antonio Forcione Quartet
Assemby @ George Street
*****
Italian jazz guitarist Antonio Forcione once more brings his quartet
to the Fringe, but this year with a slight change in line-up. He still
has Jenny Adejayan from England on cello and Adriano Adewale from Brazil
on percussion, with the addition of Nathan Thompson on double bass who
was a guest musician at last year's Fringe show.
Forcione plays a different set from last year, with numbers from several
of his albums. Whilst all are impressive to hear, he is at his most
entertaining when he is playing off the audience or the other musicians,
or when he is showing off his unusual techniques for getting an amazing
range of sounds out of an acoustic guitar, all done with a great deal
of humour, and perhaps a little showing off. He duets on a lovely ballad
with Adejayan in which he plays mostly by hitting rather than plucking
the strings, followed by a more competitive duet - perhaps even a duel
- with Adewale that ends with them hitting one another's instruments.
The other musicians are all excellent as ever. Adewale's range of 'instruments'
is still growing; this time he even rips newspaper in front of a microphone
during one number. There is effective but subtle lighting throughout
the show, and the sound is very good apart from a lack of clarity at
the lower end when they are all playing together, but no doubt this
will be sorted out during the run.
Forcione produces some very good music recordings, but he is very much
a live performer and has a great rapport with an audience and with the
other musicians on stage. His show is always a must for music fans at
the Fringe, and this year is no exception.
David Chadderton
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