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Fringe 2008 Reviews (75)
Drum Drama
Music Highland Festival Media
City Edinburgh, Market Street
****
All eyes are looking east this week. For those of you Olympically-challenged,
the Chinese are giving the rest of the world a good trouncing in Beijing.
But this may well be because the governments in not only China but also
Korea and Japan are great supporters of sports. This is true also of
the arts.
Many of the companies coming west for the Festival have huge casts
and support staff. This makes for very lush productions.
Drum Drama is more than drums. This production has about 15
performers and at least a half dozen staff. As expected, it is a sensory
overload. The costumes are exquisite. Each performer has more than one
costume change. There are more instruments than can be counted. The
girls are not just great musicians but they are all great to look at.
And the boys are bulls and tigers. They are well rehearsed and at times
seem to allow personalities to show though. This is a very young company;
a few more years will ease some of the tensions overall.
Catherine Lamm
The Full Monty
Tempo Musical Productions
St. Oswald's Hall
***
Tempo Musical Productions has to be considered a great representation
of the best of local theatre, not so much because of the talent but
more for the support of community. The participants in earlier productions
were in the audience. This support became more and more obvious topped
out when Greg Donnelly (Horse) hit the stage. But this is much more
than an actor driven company. All aspects of the production team seem
to be in evidence for this production.
Does Tempo measure up to the professional production in the glossier
venues? No. But it has sold out their venue, mostly, one would guess,
from local support. (Enough cannot be made of this.)
The house is filled with long tables in picnic fashion which comfortably
held this noisy, friendly crowd. There was an open bar which makes the
second act even rowdier than the first. This didn't hurt the sale of
calendars sold and signed by the six dancers. Bravo, lads
This amateur production made for a fun evening.
Catherine Lamm
Choon-Hyang (True Love)
Theater Seoul
Spotlites@ Merchants' Hall
****
The beautiful Choon Hyang and the regal Master Lee are in love. She's
at an age where her mother is looking for a husband for her. He seems
to be perfect husband material until he is forced to leave the city
and another match overshadows the couple. This is a boy gets girl, boy
loses girl, boy ends up with girl after much drama show. This is very
much a universal love story worthy of the ancient Greeks or Shakespeare.
Another rich, polished production coming to us from the East. This
large but very young, high energy company seems to have as much fun
as the audience. Theater Seoul has a history and experience of productions
starting in 1996. They seem to use each participant to their greatest
advantage. This is a fun show for the family
Catherine Lamm
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