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Fringe 2006 Reviews (35)
The Family - Semianyki
Teatr Licidei
Assembly @ St George's West
*****
This may well be the biggest surprise of the Fringe and certainly the
most refreshing. This is in the best of the Russian Clown Circus tradition
and executed flawlessly by Teatr Licedei. The actors have all applied
their technique beautifully in sync. The company proceeds slowly enough
for the audience to catch up but it is a whirlwind adventure of a typical
family.
All of the characters are well defined. Father, when home, drinks and
sleeps. Mother, pregnant again, corrals the four violently mischievous
children. Each of the actors is give cameos which best show off their
talent and father's water trick is quite clever. As the story unfolds,
the audience is brought into the action; one poor man in the front row
got the lions share of the abuse. Note: this production is infinitely
family fair!
Catherine Lamm
Alice Through the Looking
Glass
Adapted and Directed by Alison Neighbour
Little Acorn
Bedlam Theatre
***
Little Acorn's latest production is a stylish and neat adaptation of
Lewis Carroll's classic philosophically orientated children's novel.
Well paced and crafted, it managed to encompass all of the main scenes
from the book without becoming bogged down in its own self-indulgence.
The play starts out strikingly with a chorus of creatures chanting
the poem Jabberwocky to a sleeping Alice on the floor, but sadly
never manages to quite live up to the promise of this opening.
With the action all based round a large central prop comprising everything
from a house to a chessboard and incorporating the eponymous looking
glass itself, the movements are kept speedy with no wasted time whilst
the actors do well with the stilted period dialogue and rambling existential
stories.
Ultimately the play is rather unexceptional. It drives through well
enough as it dryly tells the story of the book, but without ever straying
far from the most cursory interpretations of the story.
Graeme Strachan
Hairdresser in the House
Raymond Keane
Barrabas
Aurora Nova
***
Raymond Keane is an Irish elf of a hardresser who has been trying to
give up cutting for acting. A perfect segue, you say.
The angular Mr. Keane is charming in this mostly ad lib and audience
interacting performance piece. The hook is that he finds someone in
the audience to sit in his chair and get sheared. Felicity was the most
willing victim with long, thick, straight hair. Watching Mr. Keane create
his magic and a beautiful cut while telling stories of his past and
answering question from the audience makes for an enjoyable evening.
Although slow to start, the pace of the show is calm and engaging.
We get a chance to see how a gentle soul connects with each client and
why he has give up the chaos of the hairdressing world. Sad.
Even though the evening is a little to slow and unstructured, Mr. Keane
delivers and engaging performance. We are watching an artist create.
Catherine Lamm
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