|
Fringe 2007 Reviews (89)
Famous Last Words
By Joseph Wilde
Percentage Strength Theatre
Roman Eagle Lodge
****
This first play from Percentage Strength Theatre is a very promising
beginning for the company. Written by Joseph Wilde, who also stars,
it shows the final hours of two English poets and a soldier, locked
in a French mansion during the height of the revolution. Their struggle
to write a lasting piece of art is mixed equally with their realisation
that the lives they have lived could have been spent better. Contrasted
with the earthy but thoughtful ex-sailor Frederick, the two poets realise
that perhaps the art is in the truth of what they write rather than
the poetry itself.
What is most interesting about this piece is the meaningful subtext
running below the outward wit and style shown by the very capable actors,
giving the entire production a far more searching and deep sense to
the admittedly sombre undercurrent that flows from the protagonist's
resignedly hopeless situation.
The style of the play is largely irreverent yet the point stays clear
throughout, with laughs coming thick and fast as a result of the clever
script and the well timed and tempered performances. The pacing does
falter as the opening and closing drag slightly compared to the quick
banter of the middle section. In addition, the characters display a
surprisingly non-judgemental nature in spite of their different classes
and sexualities; which considering the period, seems at times unlikely
but does not detract from the enjoyment of the play.
Graeme Strachan
Macbeth: Who is this Bloodied
Man?
Bluro Podrozy
Old College Quad
****
The Old college Quad is a fitting staging for a show such as this,
as the Gothic arches and stonework provide a all-encompassing surrounding
which blots out the city and creates a space free from the Festival
and rest of Edinburgh. Within this space, the Polish company have created
a stark and unsettling version of The Scottish Play, which, although
heavily abridged in plot, and featuring no more than a dozen lines of
dialogue, still evokes the power and horror of the tragedy. This is
accomplished largely through the use of inspired and often emotive imagery,
such as Macbeth frantically trying to hide the severed head of Banquo
from his son Fleance as he gambols around before the King, or the rolling
cages of skulls by which Macbeth is tormented.
This is a visual masterpiece with the uses of fire, explosions and
the roar of the motorbikes powering round all adding to the experience,
with acting very much a secondary fact to what is essentially a giant
and hugely accomplished piece of moving art.
Graeme Strachan
Accidental Death of a Terrorist
By Dario Fo
Mouth to Mouth Theatre Company
C Soco
**
In updating Fo's seminal farce to a modern Abu Ghraib-style prison,
they've succeeded in removing most of the charm of the original play.
With the US military taking the place of the incompetent Italian police,
the production attempts to be satirical and current in its indictments
of America's anti-terrrorist policy but comes of as half-cocked and
undercooked.
The acting is capable and there are some laughs to be found, despite
an attempt to include nearly every army cliché in the book and
still maintain the semblance of the original plot.
An audience would be far better off seeking out a production of Fo's
original or find another play with a slightly more intelligent bent
towards the current political climate.
Graeme Strachan
Next
page - - - Index
|
