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Fringe 2006 Reviews (15)
Cabin Fever
By Jim Sweeney
Gilded Balloon Teviot
***
This play is a (waterbound) vehicle for comedian Stephen Frost but
also gives his nephew Danny a stage role, albeit trussed up in a wheelchair
for an hour.
Billy "the kidder" Merryweather has worked as a cruise ship
comedian for 25 years but his time is up. The new owners of the liner
decide to fire him and introduce a more modern entertainment concept
to appeal to a younger generation.
The playwright deliberately misses the point that cruise ships have
no younger generation and their punters will love old jokers like Billy.
Sounding just like Tommy Cooper, Frost berates the young man who has
delivered the bad news and, for the last ten minutes, goes into a pretty
funny stand-up routine.
Cabin Fever has enough old but endearing jokes to be worth a
visit for Frost fans but as a drama, is no more than a one trick pony,
to an extent redeemed by a good pay-off.
Philip Fisher
Love's Remains
By Brett Goldstein
Pleasance Dome
*
Brett Goldstein has both written and stars in this two-hander about
a failed love affair. He is Julian, a control freak who has not got
over pretty, blonde haired Sarah (Caroline Steinbeis).
For the best part of an hour, they bicker, reminisce and wind each
other up, though why they have met and what anyone is meant to achieve
by witnessing their discussions is far from obvious.
Philip Fisher
Finer Noble Gases
By Adam Rapp
The Bongo Club
***
Finer Noble Gases is rather like TV series The Young Ones
multiplied to the power of 10. That means that those who are easily
offended should steer well clear of the Bongo Club. Potentially, even
some visitors who think that they are unshockable might have their delusions
shattered by a piece that has to be categorised as Theatre of Excess.
The play takes place in a living room peopled by four large, bearded
members of a band the name of which they can no longer remember.
Their lives are hardly civilised although they do have three bowls
on the coffee table. Rather than crisps, peanuts and olives, though,
these contain potent red, yellow and blue pills respectively.
The discussions led by Robert Beitzel's Staples and Paul Sparks' Chase
are monosyllabic and unintelligible for the most part and behaviour
varies from eccentric to obscene.
For no obvious reason, Lynch, played by Michael Chernus, puts his foot
through the TV and Ray Rizzo as The Man on the Floor urinates at inordinate
length to the audible surprise of many audience members. When Chase
then vomits behind the sofa, this seems like normal behaviour and hardly
causes a stir.
The plot becomes better directed as the band invite neighbour Gray
(Connor Barrett) to visit so that they can steal his TV. He is a nerdy
banker who is seduced by the values of the flatmates, offers them his
TV, which goes the same way as their own, and decides to stay.
The finale is a five minute rock set, showcasing a six-piece band at
the grungy end of hard rock led by playwright Adam Rapp and featuring
no fewer than five loud guitars. The egalitarian anarchy dissipates
a little as fans can buy Lesstheband's CD after the show.
You will never see another play like this and may not wish to. However,
Rapp is an exciting and adventurous playwright who has won a number
of awards in the States. If you have the courage to try something completely
different and intermittently very funny, or hanker after an American
version of The Young Ones, brave Finer Noble Gases - but
don't take the parents.
Philip Fisher
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