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Fringe 2007 Reviews (8)
Joymonger
By Adam Hills
Off the Kerb Productions
Assembly @ George Street
****
There's a great streak of positivity that seems to be running through
comedy at this year's fringe, as if cynicism is becoming a little less
cool. Adam Hills' Joymonger articulates some of the feeling of
this movement.
Hills' ruminations on bureaucracy, sex, Nigerian cab drivers and dancing
in Cairo are light and insightful. His audience interaction was spot
on as he spoke first to a chatty woman in the front row who had brought
her niece from Tasmania, then various latecomers who'd had an argument
over whether or not to put five quid's worth of petrol into the tank
the night before to avoid tardiness.
Hills boundless energy and carefree-but-polished manner of bounding
around the stage made for a delightful hour in which he touched on (in
addition to the above) Steve Irwin, Diana, racist Australian chavs,
and things that make him yell, not to mention a load of other very funny
things.
In a Fringe awash with mediocrity, Hills is a beacon of fun, and yes,
joy.
Rachel Lynn Brody
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead
Tom Stoppard
C cubed
****
Fringe favourite Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead returns
to Edinburgh in the capable hands of Polish company Theatre le Mort.
Tackling Stoppard’s whip-crack dialogue and super-sharp wit puts
the bravest of thesps through their paces, but for non-native English-speakers
having had only a few rehearsals in English, to perform this convincingly
and with such variety of pace and intensity is close to astonishing.
Firmly distancing itself from the nonchalant humour of Gary Oldman
and Tim Roth in the 1990 film, director Evelina Kaufmann approaches
the script with the seriousness and sincerity that a typical production
of Hamlet itself might enjoy. The staging is simple and innovative,
with the action of Shakespeare’s play taking place in a spotlight,
the threshold of which Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cannot cross until
the final scene.
The play follows the imagined fates of Hamlet’s schoolboy friends
(and later foes) as they come to terms with their destinies as bit-part
players in the court of Elsinore. In the long interims between their
participation in the story of Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern muse
on the meaning of life and death, the nature of probability and all
manner of worldly ideas, while attempting to derive a purpose to their
own limbo existence, until Shakespeare’s tale brings fate to their
doors.
Rafal Szalako and Peter Batlik in the lead roles are on stage the entire
hour and a half, and never fail for a moment to convince, alternating
between utter neuroses and pensive contemplation. The chemistry between
them is palpable and their charisma as performers, infectious. Stoppard
plays are always more intellectual than heart-stoppingly thrilling,
however this version contains more than enough energy to last for the
duration.
Lucy Ribchester
Lucid Dreams for Higher Living
By Jack McNamara
Future Ruins
Baby Belly
****(*)
Anthony has a problem. Anthony also has a self-help video. Watching
it first thing in the morning, Anthony hopes it will help him solve
the problem he's had for over a year.
This play for 'one actor and a television' explores how the self-help
video encourages Anthony to put his behavior under a microscope and
find a way to re-connect with the people around him. In doing so, it
highlights how difficult it is to stand up and articulate 'that feeling
that something is wrong' which so many people seem to have today.
McNamara's script is carefully structured, and the use of video in
the play is effective in the extreme. The calm, false warmth of the
video's hostess is a sharp contrast to the desperation of McNamara's
hero. There is smart satire on the self-help industry here, and McNamara's
observations appear both closely-studied and accurate.
The use of the television-as-character is interesting and while at
first a bit strange - we essentially begin the play by watching a man
watching a video, which makes it difficult to focus on Rhys Swinburn's
performance in favour of his self-help guru (Helen Bradbury). At times
one finds oneself paying more attention to the images on the screen
than to the live performer. Saying this, Swinburn slowly brings the
intensity of his character's struggle and the basic human need for contact
into sharp focus. Playing excellently against his pre-recorded scene
partner, he starts off at low heat he slowly turns the tension up to
a boil.
Lucid Dreams for Higher Living is a warm and inviting play with
humour; the script articulately explores the universal human issues
of lonliness, love and isolation which. Deep in the vaults of the Baby
Belly, Lucid Dreams is, for me, one of the first real triumphs
of this year's Fringe.
Rachel Lynn Brody
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