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Fringe 2006 Reviews (63)
Friday Girls
Written and Directed by Frank Hotchkiss
Playaway Productions
Augustines
**(*)
During the last weeks of school, five girls embark on a series of bedroom
meetings to better acquaint themselves with each other and to discuss
the events of their lives.
As the weeks pass they learn more and more about one another and discover
that outward appearances are usually deceptive.
From the outset, Friday Girls threatens to be a simplistic affair;
the five leads are stereotypical of any story based around schoolgirls.
The popular leader, shy academic, outsider and the ne'er-do-well are
all present and correct. The problems faced by each, including their
secrets, are clumsily sign-posted to the audience, with each revelation
to the other characters as predictable as the last. That is not to say
there is no merit in the story, it's told well enough, simply that it
is over-familiar.
The five leads present themselves to a higher standard than the plot,
all of whom were relaxed and naturalistic in their roles, each being
entirely believable as their character and taking pains to ensure that
each managed to be unique without hogging the limelight.
However, in a production which sported its own technical crew, the
time taken on scene changes was unforgivable; and can be attributed
to the use of extraneous and largely unnecessary props which served
no real purpose other than aesthetic.
That said, the play's resolution is surprisingly affecting and made
a touching us of Jocelyn Dick's fine singing voice, contrasting with
the action elsewhere on stage. More such moments of genuine emotion
and fewer attempts at covering issues would have made this production
a far more entertaining piece to watch.
Graeme Strachan
Girl in Box
Futurememory
Devised by Company
C Central
***
Featuring a pair of incestuous lovers, a razzmatazz stripper and a
body building sex-slave, Girl in Box could hardly be called run-of-the-mill.
In addition, while the staging of the props, a large box structure surrounded
by shower curtains, the plot is far less simple to define.
Richard Jackson and Natasha James play Alan and Nina, a brother and
sister who live in a small fishing village and exist in a bizarre relationship,
which has served them since their childhood. Alan is highly unstable
and completely emotionally dependent on Nina, who is maternal and protective
towards him. But when Matt arrives in the town from overseas both siblings
are drawn towards him and further from each other.
The actors hold a good chemistry with each other and remain believable
and focussed through the range of emotions on display. The highly charged
scenes of abusive life and violence contrast well with the quieter moments
and the looks back into their childhood.
Bizarrely the inclusion of the razzmatazz stripper Clown manages to
be the highlight of events. Emma Bailey excels in the role, cavorting
around, being crude and occasionally menacing without ever really justifying
her pertinence to the rest of the production.
Much as the concept of the play is interesting, the though provoking
moments are not enough to justify the long running and at times nonsensical
story line.
Graeme Strachan
Lord of the Flies
Feltonfleet @ the Fringe
Directed by Alasdair Richardson
Augustines
****(*)
Featuring a cast of genuine schoolboys, this is a shining example of
the peaks to which Youth theatre can rise, as they provide not only
moving and genuine emotion but also real conviction with a lengthy and
complicated script.
Whilst practically every school child has been led through this story
at the hands of teachers everywhere, the adaptation has been simplified
by following the book's logical narrative, omitting the colourful and
unnecessary hillside treks and boyish concerns and concentrating on
the underlying themes. Feltonfleet's version manages to eradicate the
dull and dutiful aspects of the story, which bog down the pace and are
overtly preaching. The main body of the story is still there, however
effective embellishments have been made. There are suitable changes
in most of the climactic scenes, leading to a feeling of sobering horror
at the two deaths, with Piggy's unwarranted murder placed so far from
the possible accident of the book as to be genuinely tragic.
Graeme Strachan
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