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Fringe 2009 Reviews (102)
Opening Night of the Living
Dead
Obstacle Productions
C Cubed
***
Young company Obstacle Productions have come up with the inspired idea
of combining Shakespeare and zombieism to produce this late night, laugh-a-minute
romp. Juliet wants to impress an agent in the audience; Romeo is into
over-exuberant melodrama and the techies discuss the rights and wrongs
of falling asleep during the performace, until suddenly one of the cast's
'illnesses' turns out to be a little more than anyone had bargained
for.
Living dead or not, the show must go on, with very funny consequences.
Packed full of wicked one-liners, slapstick chase scenes, and lashings
of stage blood, this may not be great theatre, but its a great night
out with a tight script and performed with gusto by a talented cast
of five.
Allison Vale
A Promised Land
Written by Raymond Raszkowski Ross
Theatre Objektiv
Scottish Storytelling Centre
*****
As I've noted before, tales of the Holocaust are generally two a penny
at the Fringe, usually decrying the horrors of the death camps and the
persecution of the Jews to show us the struggle of humanity in the face
of unspeakable evils. Turning away from any such standard fare Theatre
Objektiv have opted for a more interesting angle to great effect.
Set in 1947, A Promised Land tells the story of Rivka Feldman,
a Jewish Pole who has arrived in Edinburgh after illegally stowing away
on a ship, carrying a gun. She is interrogated by a British Captain,
tasked with finding out who this woman is and what relation she may
or may not bear to Jewish dissidents in Israel and the UK.
At the same time we are told the story of a Scottish Missionary, Jane
Haining, immured in Auschwitz after protecting Jewish children in Budapest.
The actors, Corinne Harris and John McColl, seamlessly alternate between
the parts and locations, with Harris effortlessly portraying the dual
parts of Haining and Feldman as very different individuals tied with
a shimmer of hopeful humanity in the face of shared horror, Feldman
representing the stoic aftermath and Haining a more hopeful yet fragile
naivety. McColl equally impresses with the far less sympathetic but
more constructively layered character of the Scottish Captain, whose
murky past points at prejudices and conflicts within himself that he
strugges to control.
It's a surprisingly measured performance in which there are no clear
rights and wrongs, instead we are given a powerfully beautiful and very
real story of courage and survival and the world's inability to fully
comprehend the full measure of the damage caused on an entire generation's
psyche.
Graeme Strachan
Detaining Mr K
Red Card Theatre
Space @ Surgeons Hall
****
Having a man in detention for 27 days without charge under the terrorism
act is a contemporary theme and close to the minds of many people. The
lingering thoughts of Abu Ghabir and Guantánamo Bay are still
a hot topic of discussion in popular thought and it's this subject that
Red Card Theatre have brought to the fore with Detaining Mr K.
Staged as an interrogation in front of a review panel, the audience
is each given a dossier-like programme and a few short words by the
interviewer; Pauline McWhirter, in a clipped English tone before she
prepares herself and the interrogation suite with a methodical detachment.
This creates a slightly sinister undertone that grows throughout the
play, as she affects a transformation into a biscuit-obsessed interviewer
who seems better fitted for a holiday camp than anti-terrorism work.
Anthony Marshal plays 'Mr. K'; a University Professor detained by the
government for 27 days of harsh interrogation and humiliation with no
charge. He arrives dressed only in a cloudy plastic bodysuit, terrified,
confused and angry and utterly unprepared for the good humour and friendliness
of the Interviewer.
It's a clever technique, as the play moves slowly through the various
pieces of evidence, or lack of, that could tie Mr. K to a terrorist
bombing committed by his lodger. The satirically comical tone bleeds
through the absurdity of the government logic as McWhirter and Marshal
play cat and mouse around each other looking for answers. Naturally
there is always more than meets the eye and the slow uncovering of Mr.
K's more suspect actions contrasted with the government's draconian
measures leave the audience in a perpetual state of mixed emotions as
it becomes more and more uncertain who is in the right or the wrong.
Unfortunately this takes a little too long to get started and the play
suffers from seeming to be repetitious as a result. Thankfully this
is resolved in the latter half of proceedings but there is still the
unnerring sense that things have dragged on longer than necessary.
The play thankfully delivers a stunning final climax, which ties the
end up neatly into a brilliant piece of theatre and moments of captivating
performance from the two actors as the closing war of words sends a
shard of terrifying clarity underpinning the entire production.
Graeme Strachan
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