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Fringe 2006 Reviews (37)
Netochka Nezvanova - Nameless
Nobody
By Dostoevsky
Rsskiya Notchi
Baby Belly
*****
If Vera Filatova does not win The Stage's award for best acting at
the Fringe, then there ain't no justice! This is a beautiful performance,
almost an acting masterclass. Her voice is strong enough to soar above
some loud music and yet drop to a whisper when necessary and still be
heard with extraordinary clarity. Not only that, it is a very flexible
voice, and she makes the most of that flexibility.
This is a simply stunning performance in every way and deserves the
five stars on that alone, but the piece itself is strong too - as one
would expect from one of Russia's (and the world's) greatest novelists.
Netochka tells the story of her musician step-father and, in the process,
lays bare both her and his characters. It's a simple format - starightforward
storytelling - but it is hard to see how it could be bettered.
One complaint only: had the piece and the performer not been so good,
I would have had to leave long before the end. To expect the audience
to sit on backless benches for an hour is too much! My back ached for
an hour afterwards.
Peter Lathan
Onysos the Wild
By Laurent Gaude
Compagnie Rhapsodie
Traverse Theatre
****
As the lights came up at the end of Onysos the Wild, a woman
sitting behind me murmured to her companion, 'that was a real tour-de-force.'
She wasn't wrong. Over the course of this story, which tells how the
great and vital Greek God Dionysos came to be living as a wrinkled old
man in the New York subway, performer Chris Porter transports the audience
to ancient Greece and the Middle East, detailing the God's sexual exploits.
The script is poetic and well performed, but (and perhaps it is due
to translation issues) as much as I enjoyed the production, it's difficult
to tell precisely what audiences are meant to take from this tale.
Rachel Lynn Brody
The Point of Yes
Jane Godley
Assembly Rooms
***
Jane Godley is not only funny but speaks from the small universe of
Glasgow. Ms. Godley takes of the voice of several characters and situations,
Glasgow's second class, women, and how they deal with the men in their
day to day life. Many have approached the topic of the disadvantage
women in a patriarchal society but not with such a unique voice and
perspective.
I would have thought that a strong directoral hand would have given
the production a more focused and polished face, but the scruffy Ms.
Godley is very capable and comfortable on stage and with her material.
Catherine Lamm
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