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Fringe 2006 Reviews (77)
The Canterbury Tales
Distraction Theatre Company
St Augustines
***
Even removed from its Old English roots, Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales is ripe for adaptation to the stage. With its many stories,
prologues and interplay, it has all of the story and wit required within
it to make a bawdy romp.
In this case, the book has been converted into a mirthful tale of Chaucer
arriving in a tavern and meeting with several of the characters, who
regale him with their tales. Namely the tale of the Miller and the Wife
of Bath, the remainder of the other dozen stories are quite forgotten.
These two tales are told well enough, however the curious step has
been taken to randomly modernise some of the material. Absolon, the
foolish suitor is played in the style of an east-end wide-boy complete
with catchphrases 'borrowed' from television sketch-shows. This adds
nothing to the proceedings other than an irksome dumbing-down of the
material. The misplaced Moulin Rouge style musical number is
similarly superfluous, as are the extended chase sequences.
It's wholly unfortunate that this decision was taken with the material
as the cast are talented enough to cope with the period language and
the costumes and props are used quite convincingly. A closer reading
of the material would have been far superior, and much more worth the
effort.
Graeme Strachan
Think No Evil of Us
David Benson - Festival Highlights
Pleasance
****
Ten years ago David Benson premiered his show about his own life and
its links with Kenneth Williams at the Fringe. He won a Fringe-first
for his efforts then and now a decade on has returned it for a short
run to celebrate its anniversary.
Benson's performance manages to come across as a parody and a near
mimicry, rather than an impersonation of the late comedian. At times
it is as chillingly real and painful to experience, as the real man
was known to be.
More interestingly, the better part of the performance is not the sections
about Kenneth Williams, but rather the central portion; where Benson
relates the events of his own troubled youth, growing up gay with a
mentally-ill and abusive mother and an unhealthy fascination for stand-up
comedians.
His tales of growing up in a confused state and the curious link he
ended up sharing with Williams through Jackanory are fascinating.
Movingly told, they manage to be both touching and funny, including
a plethora of impressions and incidental jokes.
The show falters only with the final third, whilst showing the increasingly
manic and irritable Williams at an imagined restaurant dinner, Benson
allows the material to drag out far beyond the point of interest as
it becomes utterly uncomfortable to watch. After labouring the point
for far too long; the all too real depiction of the suicide feels almost
as a welcome relief.
With a few mere minutes trimmed from the performance the play would
have been a moving powerhouse, instead it is simply a highly accomplished
tale of confused life and bittersweet sadness.
Graeme Strachan
Bitches and Money
Relentless Theatre
Babybelly
****
This new production by Relentless Theatre can be easily summed up in
a simple sentence; it's the show that Quentin Tarentino would make,
if he did period theatre.
The tale follows a trio crooks hiding in an Edinburgh basement, in
the aftermath of a card-counting game; and through a series of flashbacks
recounts the events leading up to their current predicament.
The story is blackly comic throughout, freeing the players to ham their
performances up without any care to the realism of their situation.
James French keeps the momentum going as "Black "Jack, playing
off his two female co-stars with evident enjoyment, also getting to
play up the best character development; or indeed disintegration, as
slowly bleeds to death throughout the course of the play. The diametrically
opposing women gel equally well in their own scenes together with Fiona
MacLaine's vampish courtesan acting as a subtle and slick counterweight
to Claire Murphy's near psychotic mathematician.
The story moves on well after a slow beginning, but could stand to
have a tighter script at the midpoint as the flashbacks near the critical
moments they start to drag on. However the end point is worth the journey,
with a climactic finale countdown utterly in keeping with the wry wit
of the rest of the show.
Graeme Strachan
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