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Fringe 2008 Reviews (29)
What's Wrong With Angry?
Glenn Chandler presents
C
*****
A young cast gives their all in this high paced and slick production.
What's Wrong With Angry? tells the story of Stephen and his
life as a homosexual teenager in 1990's Britain where Section 28 puts
a hold on young people discussing their sexuality within school and
young men have resorted to experiencing their first sexual encounters
in public toilets.
Writer and Director Patrick Wilde asks the audience to think about
the issues young gay men faced during that time and through the eyes
of the central characters we begin to feel the strain from two different
view points. Wilde's direction enables the actors to showcase their
talents not only on their own but also as an ensemble.
Moments of real and raw emotion were captured beautifully by Christopher
Birks as John and Oliver Jack as Stephen. Birks and Jack created passion
on stage and at times made the audience feel as though they were observing
private moments. Both actors gave strong performances throughout the
piece.
Special mention must go to actress Jennifer Hall who stood out in every
scene she was in: this girl has natural talent and shone in her roles
and gave a striking performance.
With some great one liners, touching moments and a very 90s and gay
soundtrack, this is a production that leaves the audience asking themselves
questions about the issues that are raised. For some, like myself, this
production will create a personal connection to what is being discussed
on stage and for others a fantastic performance to remember.
John Naples-Campbell
Cabaret Dante
Skin of the Teeth
C Soco
**
Despite a promising title, Skin of the Teeth explores neither Italian
underworlds nor burlesque irony. Dante is merely the surname of a character
and the cabaret is unperformed, this being a play about an Edwardian
company. Adorned with Gothic trappings, and offering a brief introduction
that wants to remove the drama from the traditional space, Cabaret
Dante is disappointing, failing to discover new emotional territory
or convince as melodrama.
Skin of the Teeth are a new company, and they claim influence from
both Punchdrunk and Stanislavki. Unfortunately, Cabaret Dante
follows a fairly conventional narrative and pacing, oddly repetitious
for such a short piece and lacking any depth of characterisation. There
is a drunk, a lecher, a possibly incestuous relationship, a medium and
an abortion. The set and costumes have that fashionable decayed grandeur
pallor and the performances are solid, if unimpressive. And while the
press release claims that it is site-specific, the majority of the show
reveals a poor appreciation of the small studio space's sight-lines.
It feels horrible to be so merciless to a company with good intentions
and the bravery to take on the Fringe. The lurching, allegorical scenes
and basic archetypes on display do suggest potential, but at this time,
Skin of the Teeth lack the confidence to follow up their inspiration.
Gareth K Vile
Nocturne
By Adam Rapp
Almeida Theatre
Traverse Theatre
*****
Peter McDonald performs this one-man American play by Adam Rapp about
a man who becomes estranged from his family after accidentally killing
his sister in a road accident.
The man, who remains unnamed throughout the play, begins by telling
us that he killed his sister. After dancing around the issue for a while,
we learn that it happened in a road accident when he was driving, and
we get some quite gruesome details in a matter-of-fact way. Even though
this was just an accident, it breaks up the family (his father reacts
in a particularly extreme way) and he moves to New York, where he gets
a job in a bookshop and makes 'furniture' for his flat from the books
he is allowed to take home from work. Eventually he writes a novel based
on his sister's death, which gets published but doesn't sell particularly
well. He only returns home when his father is dying and his mother is
in a psychiatric home.
Rapp's script is loaded with poetic imagery which is often quite beautiful
but just occasionally feels like it has been laid on a little thickly
so you have to wade through it to get to the story. The man was a former
child prodigy and later became a novelist and avid reader, so this imagery
draws a lot from music, then takes in literature as well later on.
Peter McDonald delivers his story at a slow, relaxed pace all the way
through, but still manages to draw in an audience and keep it fascinated
for nearly two hours aided by nothing more than a wooden chair, abstract
video, images between scenes from designer Lorna Heavey on a circular
screen over his head and Philip Neil Martin's atmospheric piano music.
He also manages to get all the humour out of the script, which is quite
plentiful, even if it provokes more sniggers than belly laughs, and
serves to vary the tone.
David Chadderton
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