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Fringe 2007 Reviews (84)
Phaedra
By Jean Racine
Offstage Theatre
Craigmillar Caste
**
This show is advertised as a 'site-specific' event, which it is not.
Casting a couple of Scottish actors in minor roles and citing the long-standing
strife across the border is not sufficient reason to transpose the tragedy
of the love-sick Phaedra to this particular location. The subject matter
of site-specific theatre should be generated by the site itself; the
events and actions of the piece should be intrinsic to the site. They
should stir our curiosity and fire our imagination, so that the site
creeps into our flesh and we inhabit the action and its ambience. This
production, an adaptation of Racine's neo-classical masterpiece, meets
none of those criteria, and rather than inspiring the imagination to
roam the site and create its ghosts, one wonders why one is traipsing
from space to space watching these actors in shabby costumes who seem
to be pretending to be royalty residing among the ruins. On the one
hand, it fails to generate a sense of connectedness to the space, on
the other it seems to be too literal, as if every ruined castle must
generate costume drama.
The ruins of the castle itself are magnificent and the location on
a hill outside Edinburgh suitably charming. No doubt this production
will satisfy some tourists who expect to see people in vaguely period
costume fleshing out some historical tourist attraction. However, as
a piece of theatre this Phaedra is mediocre and miscast. It is
the type of pseudo-classical production Peter Brook refers to as 'deadly
theatre' in The Empty Space.
The cast were working hard to make this work and against the odds.
No matter how convincing Phaedra's torment, and Cleo Sylvestre as the
queen tortured by lust for her stepson at times engaged our pity, it
was difficult to imagine this woman wasting away from unrequited love,
and guilt, and shame, to the point of death itself. Her body spoke rather
of plump contentment. Alison O'Donnell as was a lovely, deeply sincere
Aricia, but she was the girl-next-door rather than a regal and long-suffering
princess of a noble royal house. Henry Maynard managed best to embody
his character and gave us an Hippolytus with some conviction. He was
suitably brave, sincerely upright and energetically tormented, but I
also felt he was uncomfortable in the spaces. Seamus Newman as Theseus
was labouring so hard to make this work that he was falling into all
the cardinal errors, the vocal tricks and clichéd gestures that
all too often pass in the UK for classical acting.
The translation/adaptation itself was hardly an inspiring effort worthy
of Racine's magnificent original, and the chorus of black-clad females
lurking in niches, humming and clanging bits of tin together failed
to add atmosphere or genuine mystery.
Offstage Theatre is known for a site-specific community piece in one
of London's infamous sink estates. At Craigmillar, they seemed, as one
newspaper put it, like an 'invasion'. They were not working with the
site, rather trying to impose their pre-rehearsed production onto it.
With this project, they were simply stretching their resources a site
too far.
Jackie Fletcher
Frank and Dolly
By Lizzie Hopley
Gilded Balloon Productions
Gilded Balloon Teviot
****
Frank and Dolly is a dark comedy set at the amateur International
Ballroom Dancing Competition in Blackpool. Dolly has allowed her younger
lover, Frank, to be her partner: this proves to be a risky choice because
of Frank's dispensation to nervous vomiting. Risky, too, because Frank
is a woman.
Hopely takes a sharp and gritty look at what happens when Frank's nerves
shatter Dolly's lifelong dream, and ruin her dress. It's full of fabulous
one-liners, ("It was the kind of bed that left a tacky feeling
on the fingers, like charity shop clothes") and takes in Wakefield,
Garibaldi biscuits and three thousand Schwartz crystals en route.
Frank and Dolly pays homage to the very human romance of a self-described
"odd couple". It's a poignant meeting of hearts through a
locked toilet door.
Lizzie Hopley and Dillie Keane give tight, captivating performances
and the final dance scene provides a moment of unexpected grace. This
is a gem of a production, artfully written and enchantingly staged.
Allison Vale
The Greyhound
By Hamliton Willis
Nearly Starving Artists
Diverse Attractions
**(*)
It's Cairn and Melissa's tenth wedding anniversary. But their demanding
family, a wayward brother with a failing marriage, and even a couple
of strangers who invite themselves in, conspire to ensure that romance
is a little lacking. In the face of all this, it's perhaps not surprising
that Cairn's seduction technique is somewhat perfunctory: "Its
8 o'clock and the children are in bed…Upstairs or downstairs?"
This is all wrapped up with some great one-liners and a sobering look
at a marriage strained at the seams.
Undeniably, there are flaws to this production: a long list of characters
flit in and out of Cairn and Melissa's life, all played by just two
actors, which left me feeling a little flummoxed at times. The two actors
themselves work hard, but don't always convince. Quin Golding's direction
is energetic and the pace well sustained, but the production needs more
clarity. Overall, then, this does feel more like a work in progress
than a polished piece.
But for all that, there is an undeniable maturity to young playwright
Hamilton Willis' textual handling of the couple's strained marriage
and there is an obvious comic flare - unhoned, but quirky and original.
The Greyhound may not have the finesse of a professional production,
but there's talent worth nurturing here.
Allison Vale
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