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Fringe 2008 Reviews (84)
I Love You, Bro
By Adam J.A. Cass
Three To A Room
Pleasance Dome
****
In 2003 a boy from Altrincham, Manchester conspired to murder a fourteen
year old boy; that boy was himself. Based on those true events I
Love You, Bro lets you into the mind of a boy's addiction for love,
lust and lies over the Internet.
Writer Adam J.A. Cass was asked to write a screenplay based on thse
true events. The film project never took off, but the story never left
his mind. So once again he wanted to explore these bizarre events with
this dark, funny and shocking play.
Jonny is a chat room junkie with a family life he wants to forget,
forcing him to create a whole new life online with his new friend Marky
Mark. Over time with his new friend Jonny begins to cause his world
to crumble around him, leading him to plan a murder.
Cass draws you into an internet crazy world with a great story, that
makes you think about what goes on in the online communities out on
the world wide web. His script, which has a very serious and disturbing
subject, still has lots of humour and great pace, which had the audience
laughing out loud then moments later gasping in disbelief.
Wayne Miller
The Terrible Infants
Les Enfant Terribles Theatre Company
Based on a series of short stories by Oliver Lansley and Sam Wyer
Udderbelly
***(*)
The Terrible Infants returns to the Fringe with posters —
looking even more like those for Shockheaded Peter and The Tiger
Lilies — trumpeting the show's four- and five-star reviews from
last year, including our own. The production has moved from Pleasance
2 to the canvas purple cow in Bristo Square, the Udderbelly, and the
transition has not been entirely perfect.
The show consists of a series of original dark fairy tales created
by illustrator and designer Sam Wyer and the main narrator Oliver Lansley,
both of whom seem to have more than a passing acquaintance with the
work of Tim Burton. Lansley emerges impressively from a briefcase at
the start of the show and then reveals the others by removing dust-sheets
from them; two are the initial band (all play instruments at some point)
and the other two are on the cart that turns and moves and transforms
to reveal various parts of the stories.
There are some great little tales here, such as the fun story of Tumb
who listens to his tum and not his mum, or the very sad and moving story
of Thingummyboy who hides himself in the background so much that he
disappears, or the quirky story of little Linena, the girl made from
rags who wants to be made of expensive materials. There is also a brand
new story about Beatrice who wouldn't stop talking about herself and
would never listen to others, narrated by the recorded voice of Judi
Dench. These all fit between episodes of the continuing story of Tilly
who could not tell the truth. All of the characters featured disappear
at the end of their respective stories, so they all serve as cautionary
tales.
The show features a mixture of live acting and puppetry, with some
very imaginative use of shadows for characters and backgrounds, masks
and other recognisable objects that become magical storytelling devices
when incorporated into the wonderful design. The actors bicker like
petulant children between stories before emerging in character.
The conventionally-shaped end stage of Pleasance 2 where the show was
performed last year has been exchanged this year for the Cinemascope
stage of the Udderbelly, which means that the action is stretched sideways
and some seems quite a distance away, depending on where you are sitting.
Songs or little bits of action that once covered a scene change are
now alongside the activity they are meant to hide, which catches the
eye far more in the far-from-perfect blackout of the bovine tent; this
makes the scene changes seem longer and the show more broken up. The
blackout problem is made worse by a corner of the tent roof that keeps
blowing up, letting in a thick stream of daylight at irregular intervals.
The performers now all wear radio mics, which are all turned up far
too high causing distortion and occasional feedback.
This is largely the same show as last year and so contains a lot to
be commended and enjoyed in both the stories and the imaginative staging,
but somehow the pace and the atmosphere just doesn't feel as magical
in the purple cow as it did in the more intimate venue at the Pleasance,
and the reviewed performance was not helped by a ten minute delay in
starting, potentially disastrous in Edinburgh when many audience members
are trying to see several shows in a day. However it is still certainly
a show worth looking at.
David Chadderton
Feasting on Flesh
Assembly & Strut & Fret
Assembly @ George Street
****
In my life I have dined at many great restaurants and many, many bad,
but never have I been invited to dine at such a bizarre, sexy and crazy
eatery. The staff here would have Gordon Ramsey blushing over the pasta!
Feasting on Flesh doesn't offer a plot or realism but instead
gives you great adult fun, with great performances from burlesque beauty
Gypsy Wood, who simply has the best use for cling film, Le Gateau Chocolat
whose operatic voice booms through your body and the hilarious Tom Flanagan
with acrobatic skills that defy gravity.
Not only does Feasting on Flesh look stunning, the show also
boasts a brilliant soundtrack by award winning musician Gotye. Goyte
is the winner of the AMP, Australia's equivalent of the Mercury Music
Prize. His music is the perfect backdrop for this unique theatrical
experience.
Combining music, naked flesh, acrobatics, burlesque, arial ballet,
magic and, of course, a love of food, Strut & Fret offer the best
cuisine show you will see this year.
Wayne Miller
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