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Fringe 2008 Reviews (28)
Elizabeth & Raleigh :
Late but Live
By Stewart Lee
Udderbelly Cow Barn
**
Stewart Lee's latest venture feels like a work in progress, the impression
hardly dispelled by a faulty sound system.
Elizabeth (Simon Munnery) and Raleigh (Miles Jupp) looks
at the two historical characters using the same techniques as last year's
more fluid and satisfying portrait of Johnson and Boswell.
In this case, each of Mia Flodquist's impeccably costumed stars lead
off by delivering a comic monologue, loosely linked to their characters,
Raleigh reminding us about potatoes and tobacco, his Queen denouncing
every breed of foreigner known in her lifetime.
The highlights are a mini-armada and then, after a gratuitous striptease,
a scene leading to the beheading of Sir Walter. Then it is all downhill
to an abrupt ending after around 40 minutes, seemingly because the material
has run out.
There are some good jokes along the way, the best generated out of
the Dunkirk (Plymouth?) spirit engendered by a buzzing microphone.
Stewart Lee is one of the biggest names in town after creating Jerry
Springer and his popular stand-up routines but he has not done himself
or anyone of his colleagues a favour on this occasion.
Philip Fisher
Chess
Dansmusician Group
Universal Arts Theatre
*****
This Taiwanese company of dancers and musicians trained in traditional
as well as contemporary arts have reworked the Beijing Opera tale of
Farewell My Concubine. For anyone who has seen Chen Kaige's film
of the same title, Chess fleshes out the tale of the beautiful
woman who falls victim to the rivalries of warring states and commits
suicide when her lover is defeated in battle. If you haven't seen the
film, Chess narrates the story, drawn from the Chin Dynasty period
of Chinese history, with clarity and perfect artistry. For those with
little knowledge of Chinese performing arts, this is a fine introduction.
The visual aspects of this production are stunning. The costumes, lighting
and dance blend seamlessly into a performance as aesthetically and emotionally
engaging as it is fascinating. It is at one and the same time exotic
and familiar. Human emotions, human failings, jealousy, rivalry and
aggression conspire to destroy that which is pure and good.
The fusion of styles brings about a heightening of the emotional dimension.
The contemporary aspects to the movement and music are fundamentally
western. Personally, I'm fascinated by traditional Chinese performance
styles, especially the utter perfection to which Chinese performers
aspire. There is a gracefulness in every gesture; even the hand movements,
the elegant turns of the fingers and wrists are transfixing. Grand sweeping
movements, leaps and rolling falls express the battles perfectly. It
is the subtle variations in rhythm, the punctuation of fluidity by sharp,
short gestures, enhanced by percussion, that give stylized movements
a mesmerizing expressivity and individuality.
This is a beautiful and exciting piece of dance theatre performed with
remarkable expertise. We have a lot to learn from the East, especially
in terms of respect for the arts and the dedication with which artists
apply themselves to their discipline. This show deserves full houses.
Take a break at lunchtime and go and see it. You will be touched and
amazed.
Jackie Fletcher
The Feast of Ants
Mugensha Theatre Company
Rocket@Demarco Roxy Art House
****(*)
Mugensha is a sort of Japanese Dario Fo. The Feast of Ants treats
us to a high-octane farce with a cautionary message about the foibles
of humankind wrapped in the tale of provincial townsfolk. The action
centres on the barber's shop, where we meet with each of the characters:
the barber and his wife, his assistant, his mistress, his brother, the
town constable (as stupid as the policemen in Fo's Accidental Death
of an Anarchist), a mayor, shopkeepers and artisans. They are petty-minded,
lazy and greedy, too stupid to think about the consequences of their
actions, disinclined to take responsibility for their own lives. And
there is the talking bird, inhabiting a cage in the barber's shop, who
is our narrator.
Arizuka is a fictional town with a fictional history dating back 645
years to when defeated samurai survivors started a colony and cultivated
woodlands. Mugensha has taken great pains to bring this fictional town
to life, even to handing out to each spectator a programme disguised
as an official town guide. Arizuka (which means anthill in Japanese)
was once a town of diligent and cheerful people, as industrious as ants
and happy as the rape blossoms for which the town was famous. They worshipped
a god who was the Grand Ant, and performed a human sacrifice at a great
feast held in his honour once every three years. They lived by cultivating
the flowers until a foundry was established in the town. The beautiful
fields of flowers were neglected and eventually disappeared altogether.
Since then, rain has fallen ceaselessly on Arizuka.
Mugensha use a quote from Chekhov: 'Beware egotistical human beings,
arrogant human beings, for nature will burn with anger and punish you
every now and then. We have to respect nature'. Like the characters
in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, the townspeople are oroka:
'foolish, stupid, ignorant, unintelligent and inconsiderate'.
The company is actively promoting cultural exchanges and have brought
this show to Edinburgh with a great deal of generosity. It shows us
that certain themes are as old and as humankind and reassuringly familiar.
It also shows us that even on the other side of the planet there are
people who are aware of those pressing concerns that affect us all;
that we should be reaching out and working in tandem to deal with the
dangers that face us.
This is a very funny show, by a dynamic company with a remarkable energy.
The movement is superb. The translation by the bird-narrator does slow
down the pacing in places; it flags somewhere in the middle, before
picking up again and rolling relentlessly towards the grand moment of
Nature's revenge. The cast end with an explosion of energy that sends
you out buzzing. But this is a farce and they need an audience to interact
with, people laughing, giving feedback that will encourage the pacing.
Jackie Fletcher
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