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Fringe 2009 Reviews (32)
Midsummer
By David Greig and Gordon McIntyre
Traverse 2
*****
David Greig has written a play, enlivened by Gordon McIntyre's music,
that anatomises what it means to be a thirtysomething in Edinburgh today
and as such is perfect for a showcase like the Fringe.
Even better, it does so with great flair and rare humour, thanks in
considerable part to the energetic efforts of Cora Bissett and Matthew
Pidgeon, who not only act and sing funny but poignant songs but both
play a mean guitar.
Lawyer Helena and educated petty criminal Bob meet in a bar but soon
enough return to her bedroom, a homage to 1980s rock, designed by Georgia
McGuinness as the adaptable setting for 100 minutes of gripping, if
slightly quirky comedy.
As they are delivered through pithy interior monologues, the versions
of events delivered by the pair differ, giving us food for both thought
and laughter. Whatever actually happened, the mismatched couple wake
up hung over and rather embarrassed, following a passionate but very
drunken one-night stand.
That would normally be that but the next day, as Bob struggles to bank
a carrier bag of dodgy cash and Helena misses her sister's wedding,
too busy emptying her stomach, lightning strikes for a second time.
Even after blowing £15,000 overnight, the couple should part
but these opposites have really attracted and a future seems possible.
The actors give their all under David Greig's direction, mixing performance
and music adeptly and timing every joke perfectly.
Midsummer is a league above almost everything else in Edinburgh
at the moment, having already wowed local audiences at Traverse earlier
in the year. It will win awards and richly deserves to.
If you are 35, have ever been that age or hope to get there some time,
queue up for tickets. Delight is guaranteed from start to finish.
Philip Fisher
Catwalk Confidential
By Robyn Peterson
Assembly @ The Mound
***
Seventies fashion model and Vogue cover girl Robyn Peterson brings
her one-woman show about her entry into the modelling business to one
of the new performance spaces at Assembly on The Mound, the tiny Baillie
Room.
Peterson tells us about growing up in Miami Beach with a mother who
worshipped John and Jackie Kennedy, running away to New York and being
sent to Paris to work with some of the leading fashion photographers
and fashion houses in the world of Haute Couture, and then the
time when younger models came along trying to take her place. Plenty
of recognisable names are dropped, such as Yves Saint Laurent and Karl
Lagerfeld.
As a performer, Peterson has a commanding presence and can certainly
tell a story and reel in her audience. However this is really just a
well-told gossipy story about the superficial fashion world, which may
be fascinating to people interested in the fashion business but for
the rest of us it is an interesting diversion.
David Chadderton
Platform 88
Platform 88 Physical Theatre Company
Pleasance Courtyard
***
Two performers create a moving physical theatre piece about 'arrivals
and departures'. A gypsy woman sings, lives and dreams on a station
bench, until a manicured woman and her vanity case arrive weaving her
story into this dream logic. Recapturing the spontaneity of childhood
alliances the pair finally find a space in which they can play, finding
something lost with this new arrival.
A good sense of design and balletic poise aid this simple production,
but this piece won't appeal to the majority. As the single member in
the audience on the day of viewing, I thought the two actors did extremely
well to create a great sense of atmosphere and many beautiful moments.
This new company is clearly in the early stages of its work, and is
just finding its feet. Nonetheless, without an accomplished sense of
narrative this becomes a both charming but as yet directionless piece.
For lovers of mime and physical theatre, these intricately detailed
performances will really satisfy, but at this point Platform 88 appeals
to the specialist.
Sacha Voit
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