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Fringe 2009 Reviews (17)
Heaven
By Simon Stephens
The World is Too Much: Theatre for Breakfast
Traverse 2
****
Simon Stephens has courage. He has built his scratch drama (the first
of six breakfast time readings by different playwrights) on the Talking
Heads song, excruciatingly karaoked by David Gallacher's Kyle, with
the refrain "Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens".
Heaven is set in another place where nothing ever happens, an
airport. There, judgemental 67-year-old Kyle, a former world class pianist,
assails Sandy Grierson's father of two Sean after the younger man drops
litter.
Their prickly discussion about global resources soon moves on to other
topics after we learn that Sean is in the process of doing a "Reggie
Perrin" (or Lord Lucan) by disappearing off the face of the earth,
or at least to Turin.
In an unexpectedly funny half hour, the pair discuss life and, in particular,
we see that the young man's desire to drop out is actually mirrored
by his new friend's sense of regret at a wasted life full of missed
opportunities.
Philip Fisher
Susurrus
By David Leddy
Fire Exit Ltd
Assembly @ Royal Botanic Garden
****
Susurrus is a radio play at heart. A really good one. Themes
and images from A Midsummer Night's Dream ebb and flow through
a series of intertwined monologues. A scientist investigates the declining
population of sparrows; a brother and sister remember their famous father;
an ageing actress reminisces about her role in Benjamin Britten's opera
version of Dream. Odd phrases drop, sink, bubble under and resurface
in other accounts like poetic refrains. Shocking revelations simmer
and are unveiled with sensitivity and without bombast, encouraging reflection,
not reaction. And between scenes, excerpts from Britten's libretto accompany
relaxing strolls through the Royal Botanic Gardens - because unlike
conventional radio plays, this one comes with recommended surroundings.
Because this incarnation of Susurrus can only be experienced
in the Botanics, the play has been subtly reworked to include them as
a pivotal location. Maps are provided with the mp3 players and headphones,
and a reassuring voice explains clearly when it's time to move to the
next marked spot. The scenes are intended to be played while static,
seated on benches or in gazebos rather than on the move, once again
encouraging reflection over action; but while most of the locations
selected for lingering in are clear points of interest, others have
little to focus on visually, diminishing the effect of juxtaposing audio
with environment. One such location is actually a choke point, where
the path narrows and meanders and absorbed wanderers are obliged to
move aside for ordinary Botanics visitors. But Susurrus is a
chimerical beast, radio-play-cum-classical-mixtape-cum-guided-tour,
and what one head lacks in common sense another makes up in poetic prowess.
Matt Boothman
The Rap Guide to Evolution
By Baba Brinkman
Babasword Productions
Gilded Balloon Teviot
****
Baba Brinkman believes. Believes Creationism is "dead wrong";
believes the whole human race share common ancestors in Africa, and
that therefore he can legitimately call himself African; believes that
rap is an appropriate vehicle for explaining Charles Darwin's Theory
of Natural Selection and its many derivatives. You can see it in his
eyes, and in the earnest way he bounces on the balls of his feet when
he assures us a point is "true, true, true!"
Here's the justification: the weirdness that is a rap show about evolutionary
biology is like the weirdness that is the first appearance of a random
genetic mutation. If the mutation turns out to beneficial, it should
survive to the next generation; if the show turns out to be popular,
Brinkman should be back with another next year (and possibly get laid
into the bargain). If not...
The show covers a vast tract of material, explaining natural selection
in the first ten minutes and proceeding swiftly onto evolutionary psychology,
social Darwinism, cultural creationism and, most importantly, the consequences
of said theories for the way we choose to live our lives. Brinkman's
many personas, from gangsta rapper to pot-smoking hippie via various
members of his own extended family, keep the material from becoming
too dry or lofty. And while the choruses in some of the early numbers
feel a bit rhythmically squiffy, his delivery flows smoothly and clearly
(even when faced with unwieldy scientific terms like "eukaryotic").
All the science in the show has been peer-reviewed and guaranteed accurate
(a condition set by the funding body). And now the reviews are rolling
in, the artistic aspect is peer-reviewed as well - part of a creative
process Brinkman suggests is itself analogous to natural selection,
as he repeats over and over in the penultimate number: "Performance,
feedback, revision".
Matt Boothman
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