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Fringe 2009 Reviews (19)
Janeane Garofalo
Gilded Balloon Teviot
***
The star of films such as The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Dogma,
Reality Bites and Cable Guy and TV shows 24, The
West Wing and Saturday Night Live brings her stand-up comedy
show to Edinburgh for the first time.
The diminutive comic begins and ends her show by running up and down
the central aisle of the auditorium and struggling to climb back onto
the stage. In between, she glosses over many different subjects including
Heathrow security, thongs as a garment of repression, cricket, Virgin
Galactic and modern art, but some of these are skimmed by without much
development and others are a little laboured. She sometimes resorts
to a file of bits and pieces that she picks up and reads from, including
'funny' car stickers bought in a nearby shop, cuttings from The Scotsman
and that old comedy standby, the US Homeland Security questionnaire,
but mostly she just reads them out and expresses exasperation rather
than working them into good gags.
However there is some very good material in here, especially when she
talks about her own experiences, such as her attitude towards having
children and her encounters with Alcoholics Anonymous and Overeaters
Anonymous, giving a refreshing alternative to the usual psychological
explanations. A lot of the time she is nervous, apologetic and hesitant
and forgets where she is up to, but there are enough smiles and sniggers
peppered with a few really big laughs to make this an entertaining hour.
David Chadderton
Cross Purpose
By Albert Camus
Find a Penny in association with Drama Centre London
C cubed
****
Sedate yet austere, Camus' play about two murderous inn keepers is
a perfect introduction into the man's philosophy: life is absurd, let
it be so.
A man returns after a twenty year absence to the inn kept by his mother
and sister. The inn is no Ibis. There is no happy homecoming. Guests
get much more sleep than they bargained for.
The theatre space and furnishings contribute to the foreboding and
uneasy energy of the text. The cast offer skilled and intelligent renderings
of what are complex characters. I only wish the direction had allowed
for my stillness - in conversation, the characters (save for the mother,
whose existential weariness demands a lack of exertion) can't stop moving.
Were things more stagnant a sharper discomfort might have been formed?
Cross Purpose makes a cerebral change of pace amid the fringe's
histrionics. If you invest in it, taking time to muse on the writer's
intents and motives, this piece can be a tense and immersive ride.
Ben Aitken
Auld Sangs and New Rhymes:
The Life of Burns
Leiftheatre
St Serf's Church and Hall
***
So Burns, as well as being a patriot and poet, was a cheeky rogue.
His sterling and captivating career - presented here with light, playful
aplomb - was punctuated with the flings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
His lechery is handled delicately; we enjoy his ribaldry and charm.
I imagine, though, that the reality of his infidelities might have been
altogether darker. That as it is, Leiftheatre pull off a tough job in
producing a theatrical biography that comprises song, dance and music
from a tuneful four piece orchestra.
The atmosphere in the church hall is bonny. I was the most junior member,
as far as I could see, by perhaps forty years. There is a sense of community
and generosity: when actors occasionally falter they are clapped all
the more for coming through the ordeal! And there is free tea and biscuits
at the interval.
If you wish for a sincere and homely taste of Scotland this festival,
do not hesitate to see this accomplished rendering of Burn's life.
Ben Aitken
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