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Fringe 2009 Reviews (8)
Rapunzel and the Tower of
Doom
Theatre of Widdershins
Scottish Storytelling Centre, The Netherbow
****
The classic tale of Rapunzel is retold by Andy Lawrence of Theatre
of Widdershins with a mix of storytelling, music, puppetry, acting and
use of masks. The story has a fruit and vegetable theme. There is quite
a bit of word play around the names of vegetables … including a
collie dog in a flower, and a chilly chilli. There is a lot of interaction
with the audience and a comic line at the end which made most grown-ups
in the audience laugh.
Andy tells the story with fiery passion and vigour. His use of the
stage and props was interesting. There were boxes that flipped open
to create different scenes in surprising ways. The costumes were basically
masks that depicted different noses hair and hats. Andy was very good
at doing the different characters and it was very easy to tell which
character was speaking. You didn't even need to see the puppets moving.
There was even a bit of singing, although the show was mostly puppetry
and acting.
On a slightly negative point, some of the words (liquidise, for instance),
may not have been suitable for 4-year olds, but nevertheless, there
was enough to entertain the younger members of the audience and enough
to entertain the older members as well.
Katya Conrad (aged 10)
Quaternary
St Paul's Boys School
C soco
*****
Theatrical Paradise Found.
Student productions are often amateurish lacklustre things, too rarely
redeeming themselves through the sheer youthful energy and enthusiasm
of their cast members. This show is a student production, but it is
a far cry from the stereotypical norm outlined above. I've seen far
worse from professionals in London's West End. This show is neither
conventional, nor undemanding, but it is undeniably excellent.
I have one minor gripe, which I'll mention now to get it out of the
way: when I caught the performance, the actors often couldn't be heard
clearly enough when not radio-miked from where I was sitting, but they
did have a lot of background noise from fans to compete against and
when the mics worked, there was no problem. Judging by the rest of the
production values, if they weren't miked, then it was unlikely to be
a technical fault, but an intentional decision, for every aspect of
this production is meticulously planned to reflect a central theme.
Quaternary is multi-layered and highly individual. On one level,
it's informed by Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost. On another
level, it tells the story of four senior school-aged friends on a school
trip to explore an Icelandic glacier. The terrain's extreme conditions
force them to confront their deepest inner resources – and failings.
But the performance worked on yet another level, weaving a story which
linked both Milton and the contemporary world of the explorers, but
which stood apart from either.
Leon Conrad
Showstopper! The Improvised
Musical
Showstopper Productions
Musicals @ George Square
*****
If you see any musical, see Showstoppers, they will truly do any musical
about anything. Swine flu was the suggestion the night I went, so Avenue
FLU we got.
From laboratory to ostrich farm to 10 Downing Street, this was a spectacular
musical, numbers like "Flightless Bird" are still echoing
in my head.
While the musical was a one-off, its brilliance was no accident, audience
suggestions, razor sharp singers and musicians were masterfully held
together by director Dylan Emery.
Emery began the show with a brainstorming session with the audience,
the cast took the ideas and ran with them, but Emery was always there
to rein them in. Any confusion, any tangents or any upstaging of the
central plot and Emery was straight in there, like God.
The cast could have been left to their own devices and still been amazing
but the interplay was fun and kept the show seamless as well as the
director creating a strong link between audience and performers.
The characters were wonderfully deranged, but still held the plot together,
creating connection after beautiful connection. Supporting each other
and creating many great comic moments just in the dialogue between songs.
This show crammed in everything, from political satire to parodies
of just about everything, the overprotective father ghost made old king
Hamlet look non-interventionist.
See Showstopper! See it again and again and again.
Seth Ewin
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