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Fringe 2009 Reviews (35)
A Man For All Seasons
By Robert Bolt
Theatre Alba
Duddington Kirk Manse Gardens
***
Theatre Alba have been at Duddington Kirk for eleven years now, and
take full advantage of possibly the loveliest setting and certainly
the friendliest and most informative volunteers on the scene. We are
in the gardens of the church, overlooking the lake at dusk, for this
stirring version of Robert Bolt's classic 1960 drama of individual conscience
versus state obedience.
God-fearing Sir Thomas More quietly condemns Henry VIII's breaking
with Rome in order to divorce his first wife. The young, reckless king
won't be headed off: and after the deed is done and Anne Boleyn installed,
determines to weed out all those who disagree or ever disagreed with
his choice. More refuses to take the oath pledging loyalty to the new
"Supreme Head of the Church of England" but won't say why
- and though he pleads that by the letter of the law he cannot be condemned
for non-expression, the pragmatist politicians know that his silence
"bellows across Europe".
I'm reminded of the Crucible: should one swear a lie to preserve one's
life or die rather than give up one's honour? It's a gripping debate
put centre stage, and marvellously communicated by Garry Stewart's subtle,
gentle and utterly authoritative performance as More. The rest of the
company give good support, particularly Suzanne Dance as his wife. Calum
Coulston's Henry though is a bit too young and impetuous, and Alan Ireby
as Thomas Cromwell has a compulsion to turn his back to us. A couple
of blocking issues add to the problem of distance from the performance:
if the performers had been at our feet rather than several metres away
it could have been another level of intensity. But a full-throated and
confident showing of a meaty play - much longer than the Fringe fashion,
but indispensable.
Corinne Salisbury
Brewers Fayre
The World is Too Much
By David Greig
Traverse 2
*****
David Greig really hasn't got the hang of the 30 minute two-hander
- thank goodness. Brewers Fayre has a cast in three figures and
runs 50% longer than billed. It is, though, a fully realised, insightful
exploration of cyber love.
Greig introduces the play, enlisting audience assistance to read out
narration collectively from PowerPoint slides. They embrace the idea,
supplementing a cast that is already double the number commissioned.
The main story involves Ian (Greig), an agoraphobic who is failing
to satisfy his wife Elaine (Jennifer Black), only leaving cyberspace
towards the end.
She enters a website for people seeking extramarital sex and finds
Andrew Scott-Ramsay's Anthony, a handsome younger man "married
to running". The cyber affair progresses well, with neither lying
to any great extent.
The other character, ignoring an agony aun- style sex adviser who provides
a good measure of laughs, is 16-year-old Christine, a pretty thing suffering
from the perennial anxieties that embitter the young.
Brewers Fayre moves to a climax at the restaurant in the title, as
the two would-be lovers approach and achieve their first encounter,
with sexual tension building nicely on both sides.
It is to be hoped that someone will commission David Greig, who also
directs, to develop Brewers Fayre for a full-scale production,
as it deserves to be seen much more widely.
Philip Fisher
Capoeira Knights: The Boys
from Brazil
World Festival
The World @ St George's West
****
'The Boys from Brazil' have undoubtedly created a flurry of interest
around their high energy, gravity-defying show. With the BBC filming
on the evening I attended and a gaggle of over-excited of girls in the
benches behind me, this South-American dance/martial arts extravaganza
certainly offers more than just song and movement.
The six muscle popping young men, accompanied by a sun drenched, salsa-beating
band, flip, leap, roll and tumble through the air with the ease of gambling
tiger cubs. Capoeira was created by slaves in South America who were
forbidden by their overlords to train for fighting for fear of an uprising,
and therefore they disguised this paired and choreographed movement
as dance. And we are treated to both their high kicks and their pelvic
thrusting group gyrations.
However what it ultimately seems to offer is a Brazilian version of
the Chippendales, often on stage in grass skirts with fluorescent speedos
underneath. With the sincerely dedicated narrator describing the Brazilian
background of this show throughout, the Capoeira Knights capitalize
on their origins and create a dynamic and fearless show.
Sacha Voit
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