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Fringe 2006 Reviews (12)
Food
By Joel Horwood and Christopher Heimann
Traverse 2
*****
Imaginary Body had a great Edinburgh success with 100 four years
ago. It has taken some time but their 70-minute successor, Food,
has the same unusual qualities and should win a Fringe First.
Food is the flavour of the month, potentially now the new sex. Reality
TV about chefs is hard to avoid and even local hard man Irvine Welsh's
new novel focuses on the world of the Masterchef.
This play portrays the rise and fall of Irish chef Frank Byrne, played
by Sean Campion, a man who must like Traverse 2, having showcased Stones
In His Pockets in the same space a decade ago.
We enter the manic kitchen a month before Frank is to open The Boiling
Pot. Frank's ambitions are limitless with the elusive Michelin three
stars the ultimate goal. Within four years he reaches this Nirvana and
the world is his (beautifully-prepared) oyster.
The Mephistophelean cost is a degree of obsession close to madness.
Frank hardly notices wife Cherry or his children, leaving the marital
bed at 3am to find the best fish. Similarly, he sees his staff as no
more than the tools of his trade, on a par with saucepans and whisks,
but more treacherous.
Having hit the peak, there is only one way to go, as Frank becomes
irrationally neurotic about the risk of losing his third star.
Imaginary Body's strength, led by writer/director Christopher Heimann,
is in combining a sharp script with carefully presented physical theatre.
On a minimal set designed by Jon Bausor, you really feel as if you
are in a manic reataurant kitchen, even though all of the utensils are
invisible.
Sean Campion provides a memorable performance as the chef who can never
relax and visibly wilts as his character's confidence drains away.
Food will inevitably be one of the big hits of 2006 and is already
selling well in an experimental space that can struggle to attract punters.
Book early.
Philip Fisher
Boothby Graffoe with Nick
Pynn: Release U Win Tin
The Stand Comedy Club
*****
Boothby Graffoe, the comedian named after a town in Lincolnshire, is
one of those people who seem to be a fixture at the Edinburgh Fringe;
even though there must have been a Fringe before Boothby, it's difficult
to imagine it without him now.
For this year's show, he has returned to the rather cramped surroundings
of The Stand, which is designed in a way that would be more familiar
to a comedy club performer than the theatre and converted church halls
and lecture halls at other venues. He is once again joined by the musician
Nick Pynn, who plays guitar, electric violin and Appalachian dulcimer
to accompany Boothby's musical pieces, as well as acting as a foil to
some of his gags and insults.
This year's show is completely new, with no songs or routines from
last year's show or from his album. The title refers to a journalist
who has been in gaol in Myanmar for the last sixteen years for what
he has written about the government. This is a cause that Boothby has
been supporting for a while, but he does not push it down the audience's
throat during the show - in fact he admitted forgetting to mention it
the night before.
His stories and songs touch on politics - his first song is accompanied
by slides on a screen at the side depicting atrocities that various
countries were involved in while still managing to be funny - as well
as family life, recycling, cats, ghost trains and the World Cup. He
creates people (and animals) with strange, changing accents who have
bizarre conversations through Boothby's mouth before commenting that
he doesn't know how to end the joke. He will tell a funny but realistic
tale, and then immediately go on a strange flight of the imagination,
such as when his cats are discussing why he put butter on their paws
when he moved house, or Iraqis who turn into Frenchmen for no apparent
reason. He also spends quite some time showing us his latest toy - a
guitar synthesiser.
Songs include The Ballad of the Budgie, which is really about
a stalker but does involve a budgie who comes to an unspecified but
presumably nasty end, a clever song that goes through the alphabet several
times and, to finish, his World Cup song Don't Let Me Down Again,
which unfortunately wasn't released before the England team did just
that.
Boothby is funny as ever, with some good new material and some very
funny new songs and a few more insights into non-feline areas of his
personal domestic life than in the past - if any of it is true.
David Chadderton
Allegiance
By Mary Kenny
Assembly Rooms
***
This show has, against all odds, proved to be one of the most controversial
on the Fringe. The question "Will he light up?" has buzzed
around this newly-sanctimonious smoke-free city. With the threats of
fines and closure hanging over the show and even the venue, Winston
S Churchill's Romeo y Julieta remains virginally perfect throughout
this 90 minute history lesson.
Allegiance features a supposed re-creation of a meeting between
Lloyd George's new minister for Ireland (and the Middle East) and his
Irish counterpart in talks to seek peace in the revolutionary country
to the West during 1920/1.
Michael Collins is now almost as well known as his older host, courtesy
of a feature film biography. The 30 year old is a romantic hero to many
of the English but, in reality, a guerrilla or terrorist who has turned
to politics.
Mel Smith very much looks the part as Churchill in wing collar and
bow tie and seems completely at home in the wide study that looks like
something straight from a dusty stately home. The only thing missing
as his lower lip juts like that of a sulking child is that ubiquitous
cigar to rest on it.
By way of contrast, the young buck who has come to visit wears a light
grey three piece suit and red tie. Unusually for the period, he also
swears in front of the minister like a trooper and treats his duellist
like an affectionate friend rather than a great statesman.
After some initially frosty skirmishes the pair get down to negotiations
but can seem lost in exposition as Mary Kenny ensures that her audience
(very mature for the Fringe) gets a full introduction to a very complex
subject.
This consists of some serious biography of both men, a brief history
of British imperialism and the tragedy of Ireland.
The two men then try to solve their differences and do so to such an
extent that they are on "Young Michael" and "Winston"
terms by the time that a treaty, which will never come into force is
agreed.
Allegiance works up to a point. Mel Smith is convincing as Churchill
and Michael Fassbender is a charming Collins. However, their discussions
and use of language stretch credibility on too many occasions thus rendering
the play far more of a history lesson and star vehicle than should have
been the case.
Philip Fisher
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