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Fringe 2008 Reviews (106)
I love you! and You... and
You...
By Ellen Cribs
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
C Cubed
***
Romantic comedies aren't the usual fare at the Fringe, which is why
it's so refreshing to head into I Love you! and see a nicely
acted sweet story of romance and one man's inability to commit to a
relationship.
As Mark recounts his five most important relationships to a room full
of bored women in a speed-date class, he comes to the realisation that
it was his own inability to commit that ended them all. Managing to
mix laughs in with a series of likeable characters in understandable
situations, this feel-good play has all you could need for an entertaining
afternoon's uplift. It might be paper-thin and the audience participation
choice of ending has an element of silliness, but the warm nature of
the whole production stops it from ever being cloying or cringeworthy.
Worth a look if you're tired of the doom and gloom inherent to most
of the plays on offer.
Graeme Strachan
The Aluminum Show
Pleasance Courtyard
****
An intriguing alien world formed from silver metal - The Aluminum
Show at the Pleasance Courtyard offers an uplifting and imaginative
experience.
In-flight safety procedures are quickly dictated and the audience is
whisked off to a land of silver excitement. Giant tubular worms traverse
over the audience while a number of acrobatic aliens fill the stage.
All sorts of creatures are paraded through the space to the delight
of young and old alike.
This fantasy world is the work of boundless imagination, the credit
for which belongs to Ilan Azriel, a Tel Aviv-based dancer who devised
the entire spectacle. His vision is transformed into a phenomenally
energetic performance which is truly sensational, although there are
the odd moments of frantic fumbling.
Alison Burns
Dark Grumblings
BIG WOW in association with Richard Jordan Productions
Underbelly
**
Combining the farcical comedy of 1970s sitcoms and the terror-inducing
horror of Japanese Cinema isn't the first genre-crossing idea that would
pop into most people's minds, and unsurprisingly, the end result is
much the horror show you'd expect. Whilst the concept of possessed TV
sets in an empty block of flats does have some merit to it, the work
done by the two actors in taking on several roles each as well as a
fair whack of physical work and the staging is genuinely creepy at times.
Unfortunately this is let down by the constantly shouted dialogue, when
both actors talk over each other in the same way that made On the
Buses and Hi-de-hi! so mind-numbingly irritating after a
few minutes. It's bizarre but the constant chatter and relentlessly
unfunny repetitions of terrible jokes mean that every time the principal
characters; the old security guard and his job-centre new-start, are
talking, the play becomes almost unwatchably painful. Had the company
opted for a more standard comedy, or had simply opted to make a genuine
horror, then it's likely that they would have had a runaway success;
as it stands, it's just a missed opportunity.
Graeme Strachan
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