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Fringe 2008 Reviews (71)
What All the Rabbits Are Doing
By Zoe Hinks
Sabotage Theatre Company
Zoo
***(*)
It's unusual to walk into a play and be confronted with a naked girl,
but that's exactly what awaits the audience in What All the Rabbits
Are Doing. However this is more than mere titillation: Zoe Hinks'
play has a lot more up its sleeve.
Putting a convicted psychotic rapist into a room with a beautiful nude
model and asking him to draw her is a recipe for disaster. Presumably
not when he's covered at all times by Snipers and monitored by a group
of scientists, but rather than being terrified of him, the model begins
to like him, and he begins to respect her in a way he previously couldn't.
Meanwhile far above we are shown the watching gunman and woman who offer
uncomprehending guesses about the nature of their relationship.
By contrasting the relationship between the patient and the model with
the burgeoning pedestrian romance of the two snipers above them, the
play takes society's traditional view of criminality and treatment of
the mentally ill and subverts it, as this captivating play manages to
make us question the meaning of longing and the abilities of love to
overcome obstacles. There is a slightly bitter note in the ultimate
fulfilment of a narrative question which crops up midway through, but
this is forgivable as it still provides a form of catharsis but without
all of the impact it could have brought to the close.
Graeme Strachan
Titus Andronicus
By William Shakespeare
Action to the Word
C
**
If you're a fan of Titus Andronicus, this production is a massacre.
With a rocking sound track, a strutting cast and stage blood on tap,
Action to the Word fairly rollock their way through this early Shakespearean
tragedy. While their production maintains an admirable unity and visual
coherence in the design of white, red, silver and black, it takes a
far too farcical turn for the worse when it becomes an Anne Summers
catwalk collection as the Goths swagger on to stage. With ripped tights,
black eyeliner, punk hairstyles and black skirts shorter than their
suspenders these women (and token male in tight red leather trousers)
pose like Baywatch Babes. Thankfully Tweedle Fum and Tweedle Dee (aka
Demetrius and Chiron) and the Frank Spencer impersonator with his bucket
of pigeons have been on earlier, so by the time the Goths are on we
have no need to restrain our laughter. A thoroughly amusing, if somewhat
misguided, gore filled Goth-fest of a play.
Cecily Boys
Shakespeare for Breakfast
C theatre
C
***(*)
Imagine a parallel world created by Shakespeare to keep his characters
safe and relaxing in a spa. While the Macbeths take on Romeo and Juliet
at badminton, and Prospero and Malvolio argue over health and safety
regulations. Although Macbeth's wearing the kilt, it's clear who wears
the trousers in his relationship with Lady Macbeth. Alternatively, it's
uncertain whether the ardent passion of Romeo and Juliet's twelve hour
old teenage relationship will last. When Prospero is tricked into transporting
the characters into the 'reality' of modern game shows these relationships
are put to the test. Here lines of Shakespeare are replayed in a modern
context so when Ann Robinson questions Romeo on ornithology in The
Weakest Link, Juliet argues that it was the lark and not the nightingale.
Part of the fun is identifying the quotes from different plays but
they stand alone and there's plenty of humour for those unfamiliar with
Shakespeare. Despite the lack of production quality in costume and props,
this is still a very pleasant way to ease you into the day. Light Shakespeare
with coffee and croissants laid on is fun for all, and a good show to
introduce kids to the Bard.
Cecily Boys
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