|
Links
Articles
News
Reviews
Amateur
Theatre
Contact
Other
Resources
|
Fringe 2011 Reviews (46)
Silence In Court
emeraldBLUE 2011
New Town Theatre
**
Many people often wonder what they would do if they ended up on a jury.
In this play, Silence in Court, they provide an experience that
goes some way to show how that might feel, albeit with notable problems
in this case, the first and most pertinent of these being that for anyone
with the slightest inkling of the legal process, the entire affair is
a shambolic mess of incorrect procedures and legal misteps. Taking for
granted that despite the Scottish cast, and setting, these are the Engish
Court procedures and styles, adapted for stage entertainment, the rest
is a good example of a decent concept gone fairly awry.
Thirteen audience members are asked to sit in the Jury seats provided
while a mock rape trial ensues. There evidence is said to be purely
circumstantial and the jury must weight their decision on the basis
of the complainant and the accused giving evidence under examination,
before being allowed to ask questions themselves. The cast aquit themselves
well enough, with some very good work done by the accused rapist and
his alleged victim. The problem comes when the audience are put in position
to make a decision and talk amongst themselves. In a longer play with
a sturdier case, this might have proven interesting rather than the
shambolic argumentation on display here. That added to the definite
sense that whatever the answer given happened to be, the result was
inevitably going to be wrong. A nice idea, poorly written.
Graeme Strachan
The Rape of Lucrece
Directed by Gareth Armstrong
makin projects presents Gerard Logan
Zoo Southside
****
Gerard Logan once again returns to Edinburgh with his verbatim performance
of Shakespeare's poem. As he acts out the piece, from quiet dinner,
to inner turmoil, crime and finally tragedy, he performs each facet
of the piece with a flair and accomplished ability. His pacing is never
hurried or languishing, instead kept even throughout and turning what
could be a dry reading into a creepingly sinister story, with the audience
willing at every point for Tarquin to turn away from the deed.
It's a fine work that still stands proud as the original one-man version
of The Rape of Lucrece, a fine accolade and a worthy show for
any lover of the Bard this Fringe.
Graeme Strachan
The Observatory
Snuff Box Theatre Company
Underbelly
***
At a quiet checkpoint in the Middle East on a hot and difficult day,
an angry Scientist is shot by a soldier upon refusing to open his bag.
The resultant political storm falls upon the soldier in question, and
with the top brass demanding a quick and quiet result, he finds himself
in a hopeless situation. Cutting between his home life with his wife
and the interrogation of the Military Police, the play tries to find
some solution in the quagmire.
What with the army basis and current event framework, inevitably comparisons
will be drawn with other plays such as Blackwatch, but The
Observatory is largely a pedestrian affair in comparison. The story,
while bleak enough, is a tad on the undercooked side. The MPs come off
at first like comic relief, and they never really feel as if they're
anything but a device. What's more the final conclusion seems slightly
ridiculous, even though it's fairly plausible. Otherwise a good performance
with some touching moments, mostly delivered by the dead scientist in
sporadic scenes between the action.
Graeme Strachan
Next
page - - - Index
|
