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Fringe 2009 Reviews (86)
Doctor Faustus
Oxford University Dramatic Society
Sweet ECA
**
With a black stage scattered with white feathers, five actors also
in monochrome retell Goethe's famous story of the doctor who sold his
soul to the devil. Only here, some of the roles are gender-swapped and
Faustus is a woman. With doctors in white coats holding her down, writhing
as she is filled with her desired knowledge, Oxford University's version
becomes like a nightmare in a psychiatric ward.
Intensely acted and with a traditional blood spilling mayhem scene,
this production offers little to connect the audience with the narrative.
Cold, distanced and outside, the experience becomes more of an exercise
in guessing who's who, rather than caught in the whirlwind of this deranged
doctor's lust for power. Lovers of Goethe's masterpiece might be intrigued,
but for others this production leaves a lot to be desired.
Sacha Voit
David Leddy's 'White Tea'
Tron Theatre & Fire Exit Ltd
Assembly @ George Street
*****
Creating a white world of Japanese simplicity, David Leddy's White
Tea tells the story of the cold, brusque Naomi, and Tomoko, her
dying Mother's nurse. In the intimate setting of a white room, surrounded
by an audience of 25 spectators all wrapped in white paper kimonos,
this beautifully crafted tale revolves around the tea table in the center.
The two actors use this centre piece as stage, set, sea and salt-table
as they journey from Paris to Kyoto and from hostility to intimacy.
And this is an intimacy of forgiveness and understanding, as subtle
and delicate as the white tea that is handed to the audience on arrival
and of which Tomoko reads to us from her Book of Tea. Naomi is
the adopted daughter of a famous peace campaigning mother, who has just
lost her post researching memory and while her distanced upbringing
repels her from bonding with her traveling companion, Tomoko is the
force that pulls her towards her mother and resolving the mysteries
of the past.
With both familiar and unfamiliar projected images striking the walls
above our heads depicting the roar of modern life whilst this act of
reverence is portrayed below, David Leddy's White Tea creates
acute pathos and perfectly judged satisfying twists to profound affect.
But Leddy's greatest achievement in this piece is to deliver poignantly
evocative motifs throughout the tale, enveloping us in reminders of
past and future images which ripple across this play like disturbed
surface of a cup of white tea. White Tea is a piece to savor
and digest, like an act of worship that benefits to soul to attend.
Sacha Voit
Mong-Yeon (A Love In Dream)
Modl Theatre (Korea)
C, Chambers Street
****
In a visually breathtaking work, this fantastic Korean company tell
the story of a woman losing her place in life and reality as she mourns
the death of her husband. Yearning for him with all the power of her
lost soul's emptiness and craving nothing but reunion, we move between
the playful dreams of hope and the nightmarish visions of loss.
Beautifully realized with a semi-transparent back drop representing
the wall between life and death, this exceptionally dedicated company
tell a story at times as light as air, at others as disturbing as that
haunting regret that chills your heart. Told mostly in Korean with some
English translation, if only so much of the symbolism hadn't been lost
on the Western audience, this would be a five star show. Having said
that, this piece's sheer emotional power will mesmerize any willing
spectator, and would easily be on my list of top-ten recommendations.
Sacha Voit
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