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Fringe 2010 Reviews (51)
Miles Jupp : Fibber in the Heat (A Cricket Tale)
Gilded Balloon.
****
I must be the perfect person to review this show, having worked in the Lord’s Media Centre during an Ashes Test.
Miles Jupp’s true story tells what sounds like the tallest of tales about the former Archie the Inventor from Balamory’s efforts to blag his way into the England cricket entourage, having never written on the subject in his life.
He did so on a tour of India in early 2006, as the minimally accredited correspondent for both BBC Scotland and (my other gig) The Western Mail, for whom his father-in-law works.
It will not pass readers by that neither of these media giants is well-known for its cricket journalism. The only thing that Jupp had going for him (except for an Oxbridge accent) was the presence of Glamorgan’s Simon Jones in the touring party.
Unfortunately, Jones got injured, as was his wont, leaving Jupp with no more than the occasional blog for WM and even less for the BBC.
However, what he did quickly discover is that the press box quickly adopts newcomers as their own. In no time, he was boozing with Botham, Gower and Hussain and being offered his sister company’s satellite phone, to report back to nobody as it happens, by Peter Baxter of Test Match Special.
The funny thing is that having felt like a little boy fulfilling a dream for the first couple of days, our anti-hero soon discovered that getting too close to his own heroes tends to tarnish them. This is an inevitable truism but at least it gives you a great opportunity to name drop and develop a humorous show to bring to Edinburgh (and Soho in September).
If you are interested in cricket (or Balamory) this is a show to savour.
Philip Fisher
Touching The Blue
Corrie McGuire for Objective Talent
Assembly George Street.
****
Storming on stage to a stream of cusses and a litany of complaints, its clear that Clive Russell means business. His depiction of Derek Hodges is fantastic, perfectly embodying the ageing snooker whizkid who has fallen on hard times but is back for one last push at glory.
Russell’s Hodges is a seething mass of anger and bitterness, lamenting the failures of his life and the many mistakes and indulgences which have dissipated his fortune and left him a broken man. Russell plays him expertly as a proud figure who asks no sympathy for his regrets but wishes rather to leave the audience with an understanding of his pains. The lengthy asides about his ex-wives an his relationship with his mother are heartfelt enough to draw real laughs and tears from even the most cynical audience members.
Interspersed throughout the play are testimonials from real snooker champions which give the piece an air of authenticity, as well as grounding it in reality just a little more. However they don’t really add much to the plot and actually distract from Russell’s performance. It’s still an interesting meditation on rebirth and redemption, providing more than enough moving and touching moments to counterbalance the gruff, coarse nature of much of the dialogue.
Graeme Strachan
Death of the Unicorn
By Stephanie Roberts
Wet Concrete Theatre
theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall.
**
When we grow up, there is a certain part of ourselves which we leave behind, a childish imaginative nature which is drilled out of us by schooling an the pressures of modern life. Wet Concrete seek to explore the loss of that fascination and look at how it slowly wanes. The play follows a single woman from her first days, though her adolescence and university career and onwards into a woman. The Unicorn acts as her metaphor for lost youth and dreams. Acted out by a quartet of players, the progression of the girl's life is told through a mixture of action, shadow puppetry and physical theatre as we see her argue with school friends then drink and smoke herself into oblivion at parties.
The piece suffers from a few irksome flaws; the opening drags on, focusing too much on childhood games and silliness to the point where the audience really start to question if they have entered a kids show by mistake. When the more adult years begin, the action bizarrely focuses purely on her academia and drinking. Curiously at no point does the subject of love or romance rear it's head in any form. However later in the show, the girl is married and in some form of boring relationship which doesn't allow her to exercise her artistry.
Within this miasma of growth and experience, there are a few snippets of genuine insight and some well written parts. Unfortunately they are lost within the maelstrom of barraged lifetime events, with the abrupt and confused ending coming from nowhere and rejecting whatever reality the rest of the play had in favour of metaphorical enlightenment.
Graeme Strachan
Axis of Awesome: Songs in the Key of Awesome
Gilded Balloon.
*****
For a musical trio who were practically unknown until two years ago, Axis of Awesome have managed to carve themselves something of a Fringe fan base, having sold out most night this Festival. The musical trio of Jordan Raskopoulos, Lee Naimo and Benny Davis work well because they are such a mismatched and unlikely bunch, and yet the brilliance of their music is never encumbered by the faux arguments which break out during sets or the comedic errors and silliness that abounds.
The music itself is brilliantly witty, with such gems as, Why Aren't Lasers Doing Cool Shit, and their perennial favourite the Four Chord Song, the laughs come thick and fast. Holding the audience in the palm of their hands, the antipodean threesome make short work of the Festival crowds, bickering amongst each other and bullying Benny with enough vigour to make the crowds laugh without ever feeling overly harsh.
Graeme Strachan
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