|
Links
Articles
News
Reviews
Amateur
Theatre
Contact
Other
Resources
|
Fringe 2006 Reviews (60)
Danny's Wake
New End Theatre and Cracking Up Productions in association with the
Pleasance
Pleasance Courtyard
*****
Patrick and Billy, now in their 30s, haven't seen each other since
school, but now they must spend the wee small hours together at Danny's
wake. Danny was the third of the three high school "musketeers"
who have gone their separate and disparate ways, but, as a night of
neat vodka and talk of the old days will tell, the three were less close
in youth - but perhaps closer in middle age - than rose-tinted memories
and self-defensiveness about their failed and failing marriages and
careers will allow Patrick and Billy to admit.
This is naturalistic writing for the stage at its best; not a hint
of pretension and shot through with a truth almost too close to the
bone for comfort. The acting and direction is head and shoulders above
most of the Fringe. So palpable was the three-way relationship that
I expected Danny (dead and in a coffin throughout, to step out and take
a bow). Surely a transfer to the West End must be on the cards. This
kind of new drama is what the Fringe should be all about, and what the
West End sorely needs.
Louise Hill
The Seagull
Act Provocateur International
C Chambers Street
***
This is an interesting take on Chekhov's classic tale of Constantin
and his unrequited love for his childhood sweetheart, Nina, who aspires
to stardom and finds heartbreak in the arms of Constantin's famous stepfather.
In their pared-down fifty-minute production, Act Provocateur International
retell the tale of motherly suffocation, lust and thwarted ideals through
the four central characters of the play on a stage which is bare but
for three upright chairs and a bottle of wine to which the characters
regularly resort.
The performances are all sound, if not stellar, although Constantin's
mother (I would tell you her name, but there were no programmes) turned
in a compelling performance as a woman who has abandoned all but her
soul in favour of fame and fortune. The direction is slightly self-indulgent,
stylised grand gestures being preferred over emotional truth, but the
central concept is strong, and the director and actors carry it off
well, if not with the panache it deserves.
Louise Hill
Antigone
By Sophocles: Adaptor/Director - D.B. Hovis
The Blueside Theatre, Pilrig Church
**(*)
'Comprehensible', 'visual' and 'polished'; are the three words I would
used to describe this production by the Academy of Visual and Performing
Arts, based at Culver High School in Culver City, California. Much of
this is down to D.B Hovis, who adapted the classical text, created original
scores, designed the lights, co-produced and directed this surreal interpretation
of the Greek tragedy.
Antigone, a universal story about the devastating effects of
pride, was contextually comprehensible and visually aesthetic with the
use of appropriate costumes (designed by Shannon A. Kennedy), hand-made
masks, lighting, music, direction and appropriate adaptation of the
text. All this was achieved economically and considering that the cast
are High-Schoolers, the performance was impressive.
However, I felt that no matter how talented the performers were, their
lack of life experience meant that the words, though excellently memorised,
lacked any resonance. Saying that, Creon, (King of Thebes) played by
Jessica Erskine, was both surprising and powerful. It was surprising
to see a female Creon, but even more surprising than that, was experiencing
Erskine's ability to represent the internal struggle between being a
strong leader and a brutal tyrant. Libby Goldstein, who played the Guard/Soldier,
also gave a powerful performance, proving that there is no such thing
as a small part.
Lennie Varvarides
Next
page - - - Index
|
