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Fringe 2006 Reviews (66)
The Clouds Saw What Happened
Sugar-Salem Drama
Sweet ECA
***(*)
The American High School Theatre Festival has brought a large selection
of works to the festival this year, with a very high standard throughout.
The Clouds Saw What Happened attempts to tackle the much-covered
issue of the September 11th terrorist attacks, but in this instance,
from the point of view of a small-town American community, far from
New York or Washington.
Sugar City, Idaho, as we are constantly reminded, is a small town in
the country. Its only real connection to the tragedy being Brady Howell,
a solitary office worker who died in the Pentagon explosion.
In a more unusual approach than many, the play seeks to show how the
teenagers at the local school felt as a result of the tragedy and how
their perceptions of this has changed as time passes. The young cast
are wholly believable, in so far as you cannot even be sure if these
are not their own words.
Curiously little anger is shown and instead the focus is more on despair
and helplessness at the subsequent wars and further losses of life that
followed the event. The sentiment certainly feels genuine, but there
is a definite sense of censorship, or at least a holding back of real
angst and betrayal, only hinted at.
Graeme Strachan
Othello
By William Shakespeare
Turrets Youth Theatre
Venue 45
***
Shakespeare's tragedy of jealousy and mistrust adapted and pared down
to a scant 45 minutes. Surprisingly this much-abridged version of the
play is welcome refreshment to the usual staggering and monotonous productions.
Having only the most pertinent scenes, the story is covered successfully
without feeling necessarily short-changed. The scheming of Iago is still
driving the events forwards, and the Moor's descent into murderous jealousy
and grief still occurs, albeit that much faster. The production also
manages to remain just this side of seeming flippant.
The acting is of good standard, with notable performances from Iago
and his Wife. In a festival laden with the Bard, it stands as a good
example of how often less can in fact be more.
Graeme Strachan
Corleone: The Shakespearean
Godfather
Eastview Theatre
Pilrig Church
***
The Godfather, Mario Puzo's novel about a young man's life as
he is absorbed into the Mafia he despises, is best known for the classic
films based upon it. Not content with merely adapting this to the stage,
the entire story has been relocated to a 17th century New York. Not
only this but the conceit follows that the majority of the dialogue
is in pseudo-Shakespearean verse, and the plot littered with moments
from his plays. The death of Sonny mimicking that of Julius Caesar and
the restaurant assassination using a poisoned pearl being highlights.
The effect is pleasantly comic, only really faltering at moments of
emotional catharsis. However the production would have done better had
it been clearer what the company were attempting to achieve. Had they
gone more definitely for a serious adaptation or a more obvious lampoon,
then it might have elevated itself to a standard that befits its pedigree.
Graeme Strachan
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