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Fringe 2009 Reviews (98)
One Small Step
By David Hastings
Oxford Playhouse
Assembly Rooms
****
It had never previously occurred to this critic but plays about the
space race (not to mention science more generally) are few and far between.
That makes this fine work by David Hastings even more enjoyable.
In just over an hour, Robin Hemmings and Oliver Hollis relate the story
of the race to put a man into space and then on to the moon, commencing
in 1957 and ending with Neil Armstrong's "One Small Step"
almost exactly 40 years ago.
The excitement builds nicely, as we watch the USSR and USA competing,
with the former in the vanguard all the way until one disaster too many
allows good old Uncle Sam to make it to the moon first.
After that amazing moment when "The Eagle Has Landed", the
superb moon walk up a filing cabinet and then across an actor's back
is beautifully and almost inevitably choreographed to an extract from
Holst's Planets - although whether Mars is wholly appropriate
for a lunar moment could be debated?
Director Toby Hulse works well with his talented duo but also a series
of low-tech props that somehow bring the high tech world of space travel
to life. These include such items as cardboard boxes, a tin of Spam,
paper cups, old pillows and a beach ball: you get the idea.
The joy of this production lies in the care that has been taken over
every scene, with zero budget effects thought through in detail and
the actors drilled to enjoy themselves and amuse as well as educate
their audiences.
On one level, One Small Step would be perfect as Theatre in
Education, on another it is a fully-fledged play that will please viewers
of all ages. Highly recommended.
Philip Fisher
Changing the Wheel - Bert
Brecht and Me
Peter Thomson
Spotlight @ Merchants' Hall
****
What can we learn from the past? What resonances do the event that
shape lives have across the voids of time and space?
Such are the questions that arise out of Peter Thomson's solo show,
Changing the Wheel. Looking at his own life and the events that
shaped him, Thomson contrasts his autobiographical digressions with
snippets of poetry from Bertolt Brecht. Because he and 'BB' share some
facets of life: interest in the stage, later in politics and a strong
anti-war feeling. In linking his own life and times to those of Brecht
and musing on the similarities between them, Thomson creates an interesting
world of history tied together with the often bleak but dynamic verses.
As a full stage production, the play entertains without ever underestimating
the audience. Thomson gently leads the audience while dropping parcels
of information throughout the performance. He's silkily charming and
witty by turns, which does the fine job of distracting slightly from
the fact that the goals of the play never quite meet as the focus of
the show drifts by turns almost solely to discussing 'BB'. Still it's
impossible not to recommend this show as it stands as good a show about
Brecht as one could hope for.
Graeme Strachan
Topping and Butch - Twisted
The Stand III
****
The shaven headed twosome return with a whopper of a show, fitted out
as punks, complete with mohawks and braces, they assault the crowds
with a new batch of songs filled with sly insults aimed cheerfully at
everyone from Harriet Harmon to Lily Allen.
Taking the audience very much in hand, the pair gleefully wisecrack
about their sexuality and muse on such subjects as the way straight
men talk and current events. One of the most refreshing things about
Topping and Butch is the manner in which the show retains a haphazard
thrown together feel despite the practised nature of the music. The
two men genuinely seem to be having as much fun as the audience and
repeatedly set each other off into fits of giggles at their improvised
jokes; the hearty barrel-load of laughs are as much caused by their
smiles and easy manner as by their crafty tongues and fingers. Clever
and well worth the attention.
Graeme Strachan
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