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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 2009 Reviews (99)Facebook Fables Taking a comedic slant on the popularity of social networking websites, Facebook Fables tells the story of three women whose lives become linked through the site. After an opening scene showing the kind of facile behaviour that can arise out of on-line information being available, the show then show then spontaneously burst into a song. The rest of the play concerned a heartbroken businesswoman who, upon being spurned by her boyfriend, suspects the involvement of another woman and creates a Facebook profile in his name to catch her. The page does however draw in two unlikely people, a pregnant Essex Girl and a dowdy unhinged call-centre worker. Expected events spiral out of control as some fairly predictable crossed wires lead to confusion. With its emphasis on physical comedy, the trio of actresses switch between characters and situations readily, leading the audience on a snappy journey. The end of the play does falter slightly as the climactic events seem slightly out of kilter with the light comedy of the rest, but never entirely finds its feet in the drama of the situation. Had it taken a darker more sinister tone, then the plot could have been more involving but as it stands the comedy more than ensures a good time for all. Graeme Strachan Love and a Colt 45 It's a difficult situation as a reviewer when you find yourself one of only a handful of audience members in a theatre. It's clearly a challenge to the performer as well, and Bethany Black shows she is more than up to the task with her return show, in this instance performing to an audience made up entirely of two critics. Without missing a beat she embarked onto a lengthy and amusing explanation of weirder things that had happened so far this festival. Then grabbing a chair from backstage she sat down near the audience and pushed forwards with the material. In following up last year's show Beth Becomes Her, which covered her transsexual surgery and gender issues, this year's solo performance Love and a Colt 45 covers two more aspects of her life, namely bad relationships and alcoholism. It's a bitter-sweet journey though her drunken escapades and the series of destructive and damaging relationships with no small amount of self-deprecation before the gig winds down to a literal balloon releasing finale. Beth Black has the comic ability to keep the audience rapt by her stories, and her easy manner and willingness to laugh at her misfortune in a very endearing way keeps the show from spiralling into melancholy. The laughs may not be every two seconds but the clever observations and the intelligence that she holds the stories together are more than entertaining enough to ensure that people will return to see her again. Graeme Strachan Acting Suspiciously A struggling actor with a chip on each shoulder has found himself in a difficult situation. Despite his knowledge of Shakespeare and his love for the craft, Anthony Edge can't seem to get the work he feels he deserved. After arguing with his wife, being fired by his agent and nearly stabbed in a Post Office robbery, he finds himself offered work on a Crimewatch re-enactment. It's a funny little play, with Bradley's portrayal of Edge as a believably flawed man. Looking everywhere but to himself to blame for his own shortcomings, much of the comedy of the piece relates to his own lack of foresight and unwillingness to really see himself as he truly is. Despite the considerable talent on display by Bradley, the play feels more than a little predictable and the constant bursts of Shakespeare throughout are occasionally distracting and don't always entirely fit, making the whole not quite the sum of its parts. Graeme Strachan |
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