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Fringe 2008 Reviews (39)
Love Still Unrequited
LSU Theatre
Augustine’s
**
Twelfth Night seems an odd choice of play to deal with post-Katrina
Louisiana, and after a while it begins to feel like the cast are not
quite sure what the connection is either.
On the surface, it’s a pageant-spirited physical piece, driven
largely by the acrobatic talents of some members of the cast. All are
clad in phantasmal circus-style garbs with torn shards of fabric
and coloured lycra they resemble insectile fairies and travelling players.
When the play actually gets going it stands as a neat if surface-level
adaptation of Shakespeare’s text. The lines are pared down to the
bare minimum, and some inventive movement creates a shape-shifting court
peopled by multi-limbed creatures and dexterous flowers. In particular
Justin Ganguly’s Sebastian stands out as a fantastic tumbler, and
Thanh Phan’s Olivia is ethereal and cute, especially in her wooing
of Viola.
By this point the trouble is already sewn up though, by the earnestly
rambling beginning which sees the cast trying to locate their ‘play
within a play’ version in the context of dispossessed people thrown
together by a storm (perhaps too literal a metaphor for the hurricane).
Some of the main set-pieces seem like they have come straight out of
an undeveloped workshop, and in some cases, needed a little more refinement
before heading for the stage.
Lucy Ribchester
A Drunk Woman Looks At The
Thistle
Gilded Balloon Productions
Assembly @ George Street
***
Karen Dunbar, a renowned Scottish comedian and long time performer
of her own television show, The Karen Dunbar Show, performs a
reflective piece looking at the concept of National Identity. Based
on the 1925 poem by Hugh MacDairmid, writer Denise Mina sets the protagonist
as the drunk woman, a social outsider. Railing at Scotland's false idols,
such as Mel Gibson and pretentious Burns' Nights, The Drunk Woman, swigging
back MD as she talks, shows the nation a more realistic picture of its
character.
A great performer with a thought provoking script - a must for Dunbar's
fans and anyone with an ounce of Scottishness in them.
Cecily Boys
Flamenco for Lunch
Ricardo Garcia's Flamenco Flow
Bongo Club
***(*)
Ricardo Garcia and his trio set out to unlock flamenco’s secrets
and bring them to the masses in this enjoyable lunchtime show. Keeping
an informal rapport with his audience, Garcia on guitar along with Roberto
Benson on cajon and Clara Marchan dancing, introduce some of the basic
flamenco styles and their percussive rhythms.
It’s a fantastic idea, and serves to demystify flamenco’s
exoticism and make the sometimes complex rhythms a tad more identifiable
for the average punter. Some of the lessons work better than others
learning to clap tango andaluz is feasible in a packed fringe
theatre; learning arm movements slightly more dangerous for the people
sitting next to you.
In addition the amount of talking throughout the show, while all very
interesting and informative, does take away valuable time which could
otherwise be spent observing the music in action, and, when it does
come, a little of the electricity and momentum which normally flows
through flamenco is lost.
Still this is a taster show for Garcia’s more formal gig in the
evening, and if the talents of the group at a relaxed lunchtime session
are anything to go by, the main event should be pretty sizzling.
Lucy Ribchester
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