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Fringe 2007 Reviews (20)
Jihad: The Musical
By Zoe Samuel and Ben Scheuer
Silk Circle Productions
C Chambers Street
****(*)
Welcome to Jallalabad, home to peace-loving peasants generating a harmless
living from poppies... until Foxy the newscaster and Al-Mansour the
terror cell leader arrive, each determined to wreak their own kind of
havoc. Will the virtuous Shazzia and her brother Sayid Al-Boom save
the day, or will the marriage made in US TV heaven ensure that Al-Boom
and Jallalbad go down in history for all the wrong reasons?
Samuel's and Scheuer's lyrics and score are slick, astute and laugh-out-loud
hilarious. Ok, so there is a jarring note - a number based on sending
up female Muslim dress is ill-judged and not all that funny - but in
the main this is a must see of the Fringe this year. Sorab Wadia as
Hussein Al-Mansour, the terror cell leader who only ever gets to talk
to Osama's intern, is simply outstanding, the single best performance
I have seen on the Fringe so far this year and surely destined for the
West End. Meetu Chilana as Moor the seductress, Daniella Rabbani as
Shazzia and the hilarious Jonathan Wiener as Jacques are also worthy
of mention.
This is what the Fringe is about - cutting edge satire written and
performed by some of the strongest young talent around - don't miss
it.
Louise Hill
Borstal Boy
By Bredan Behan
Laine-Johnson
Augustine's
****
Brendan Behan wrote Borstal Boy, an autobiographical story. in 1958
and it was first staged as a play, adpated by Frank McMahon, in 1967,
just before the beginning of "The Troubles". Nearly fifty
years after it was written Laine-Johnson bring it to the Fringe with
a massive cast. Has it dated?
Yes and no. Obviously the restoration of Stormont, power-sharing, the
decommissioning of IRA arms, Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams sitting down
together, all of these have - hopefully! - rendered the conflict a thing
of the past, but although there are no more Brendan Behans coming to
Liverpool to bomb Cammell Laird, there are Islamist extemists carrying
out similar atrocities. On the other hand, much of the play centres
around life in Borstal and the violent régime found there, a
régime which is now a thing of the past, as are Borstals which
were abolished in 1982.
But the underlying emotions remain: the prejudices, the settling of
arguments with violence, the sense of disenfranchisement. So yes, there
is much that is still relevant, even though the actual situation has
changed.
This is a scary production: violence continually simmers and when it
breaks out, it does so with frightening ferocity and physicality. The
performances are excellent and the large cast is effectively choreographed
on what is a large stage by many Fringe standards but it nonetheless
small in real terms. There are a few weaknesses which should have been
picked up on: some clothing (socks and some underwear, for example)
which are very 21st century and some voices are lost when playing upstage,
even to the audience in the front row, but in compatison to the achievement
of the director and cast these are small beer.
We don't see much of Brendan Behan nowadays - although a year or two
back The Quare Fellow was revived to acclaim - and this is a
reminder of the power of his writing - and a timely reminder of the
dangers we create if we do not strive to make sure all our citizens
feel as though they have a stake in the country.
Peter Lathan
Unnatural Acts
Unnatural Productions and Richard Jordan Productions
Guilded Balloon Teviot
***(*)
Jessica Martin and Jason Wood star in this two-hander about a gay man
and his thirty-something female flatmate who, tired of sitting on the
shelf and beginning to wonder how long they can hold out for Mr Right,
conceive of the unconceivable...
Ok, so you've heard that one before, but then again you've seen this
story in all its various (and, let's be honest, fairly identikit) incarnations
before. Jessica Martin brings an emotional credibility and vulnerability
in Marcia which give the piece more depth, but the (albeit humorous)
sitcom-style writing and the über-campness of Woods' character
reduce the potential for real drama.
Worth a watch and an entertaining hour on the Fringe, particularly,
I suspect, if you fall into one of the two camps (no pun intended) presented
on stage, but you've probably seen it all before. Which is a shame,
because Martin is a talent to watch and this could have been so much
more.
Louise Hill
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