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Fringe 2007 Reviews (98)
You've Got to Laugh
Icarus Theatre
C Central
***(*)
When student Ozzy arrives at his sometime girlfriend’s house and
tries to break up with her, events take a turn for the unexpected, as
both she and her unbalanced sociopath brother decide that they need
Ozzy to make the family complete.
True comedy horror is a rare thing: to actively create a situation
where the audience both feel frightened for the protagonist and remain
amused is a rare thing on stage. Yet that is precisely what Icarus Theatre
have created in this production: it being both an uncomfortable and
indeed frightening setup and a clever situation comedy; as even the
wholly apt title makes clear, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.
Under Will Abberley’s direction, the three-strong cast bring forth
a fast and entertaining dynamic as they relish their roles, devoting
enough time to each character to allow the audience to get a clear understanding
of the personalities in play and the dynamics between them; making the
moments of sheer terror mean all the more, as a result of the audience
investment in the players. Luckily the screwball nature of the comedy
is enough to offset even the most uncomfortable moments of the piece,
with some moments of pure comedy standing out, such as Steve’s
monologue on his favourite ultra-violent videogame.
The main letdown of the piece is a fragmentary nature to the staging,
which means that several times we are left with only one player standing
around onstage, while it was unclear where the other were. This led
to some confusion as at one stage Ozzy appeared to have snuck out of
the flat, only for it to transpire that he had merely been in the bathroom.
Otherwise, this was a very entertaining play, from a company who work
well together.
Graeme Strachan
It is Like it Ought to be:
A Pastoral
Uninvited Guests
Pleasance Courtyard
****
It's quite a bewildering experience to be welcomed into a performance
by the cast, encouraged not to take your seat and then offered beer
and asked if you want to go bobbing for apples in a bucket on-stage.
Then terrified as the country revelry descends into some form of wiccan
barbarism and then into seemingly meaningless random depictions of wildlife,
farming, weather and rural life.
This is not a play in a conventional sense, instead rather a pure visceral
experience seeking to capture and contain the spirit of the bucolic
tradition.
Nature was shown in all its glory and abject horror as the piece creates
a variety of facets and situations, managing to conjure an atmosphere
of pastoral sentiment and feeling. With the stage strewn with branches,
leaves and the players all dressed in a form of vaguely yokel clothing;
the setting is certainly encompassing, and the quite ingenious use of
props, sound effects and music are wholly well done and bring a real
sense of ambience to the production. The large level of audience interaction
never feelsan imposition and the whole experience left me feeling as
if I'd been swept into a magical dream of a concept that couldn't ever
be put in words.
Graeme Strachan
Crime and Punishment
RSAMD in collaboration with Egregor Theatre Company
Venue 13
**(*)
A grim piece if ever I’ve seen one. Dostoyevsky’s brutally
morbid and complex morality tale about a student who callously murders
two old women is done a disservice by only including the barest skeleton
of the plot and dialogue: the underlying themes of the story seem superficial
and weak. This is a fairly inevitable result of trying to distil such
an epic work into a small stage-play and the cast and crew try admirably
with some success. But the final result is simply a curious but not
captivating story with an ending that feels forced without the weight
of the novel behind the characters' actions.
For the most part, the actors do well in their roles, and manage to
show the grim determination and ennui inherent to the time period
and the social situations. Sadly too much rests on the performance of
the prostitute Sonya, played by Anneika Rose, who simply could not evoke
a hint of the world-weariness and understanding she purports to show
to the troubled murderer.
On the whole a decent play but nothing special.
Graeme Strachan
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