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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Fringe 1997 Reviews (11)The Beaux' Stratgem *** Strut and Fret Theatre Company It must have seemed like a good idea, setting The Beaux' Stratgem in the Sixties. There are obvious parallels between the two eras, and the use of one may very well illuminate the other. That was, I suppose, the theory. In practice, all it amounted to was that the company probably saved a fair amount on costumes, for really all they did was change the dress from one period of history to another. There was no attempt to recreate Sixties' "manners", nor, realistically, could there have been, for the play is very much of its period. Frankly, the Sixties update was, in fact, an irrelevance. There were, it has to be said, some longeurs: there was a slackness about the production which led to a sameness of pace, a lack of light and shade, so that there were times when the audience's attention did wander a little (and not just mine: others in the house on the day I was there said the same). There are the makings of a good production here , but it's not quite there yet. Strut and Fret Theatre Company A summer panto - although there doesn't seem to be any difference between this one and the Christmas variety, even down to the obligatory "Aussie soap star"! There were some nice touches: two of the Ugly Sisters (yes, there were three, but why is not clear) were Edwina and Patsy to the life, darling; Cinderella herself was every thicko Essex girl you've ever met; the king had a very good line in very bad jokes; and, of course, there were two Gladiators as superhero servants (although they were superheroes in Whose Line Is It Anyway? terms rather than those of DC or Marvel Comics! It was fun. The jokes were either very bad (and therefore funny) or very witty (and therefore funny). One of my favourites went something like this: "I am, therefore I think," says Prince Charming. To which Dandini replies, "Isn't that putting Descartes before the horse?" Well, please yourself, dear. I like it. I suppose a summer panto is one of the less odd oddities one expects to find at the Fringe. A nice, easy, relaxed and enjoyable show. Art-Vic Some notes of explanation to begin with. First of all, Art-Vic, founded in 1982 by V. Sobchak, produces Russian theatre in English. Second, this year they did four shows: one (at six o'clock) remained the same, the other three (at seven) changed from day to day. The one I saw was The Harmful Effects of Tobacco, a monologue performed by James Pearse. This piece is one of those unsung little gems which are always there at the Fringe but which you have to be very lucky to find, for they do not attract media attention. I was lucky! Basing it on the Chekhov piece of the same name, Sobchak has added elements from Nabokov, Beckett and Ishiguro, to produce a delightful piece which James Pearse performs faultlessly. It's tender, amusing and sad. The humour arises from the character of the lecturer and his preoccupation with growing old, his shrewish wife, wasted life and failing sexuality. What was sad was that the audience consisted of me, another man, and the lighting/sound technician's girlfriend. In fact, when it began it was just me and the girlfriend. It deserved a much wider audience. Aphra Behn and Nell Gwyn: 17th Century Career Girls *** Theater Ten Ten These are two separate one-woman plays, performed by their respective authors. First was Karen Eterovich in Love Arm'd: Aphra Behn and her Pen, in which Aphra Behn talks to her unconscious (drunk?) live-in lover John Hoyle. In it Behn surveys her life as spy, playwright and novelist in Surinam, England and the Netherlands. We learn a great deal about Behn, the first ever professional woman playwright and the first ever novelist, predating Defoe by seventeen years. It is fascinating and informative piece, but I have my reservations about it as a play. To avoid seeming like a novel approach to a lecture, this kind of piece needs the gradual revelation of character. We need to feel that we are getting to know the person, that (s)he is revealing him/herself bit by bit, but what we had here was an increasing knowledge of Behn's achievements (which were considerable) but no corresponding character revelations: what we saw at the beginning is what we saw at the end. There was a sameness, almost a lack of subtlety in the performance, and there was something else - perhaps a certain coldness - which did not endear the character to us. We were impressed, but we didn't really relate. Lynn Marie Macy's A Thousand Merry Conceits: A Private Audience with Nell Gwyn, however, had more "heart". Here was a person we could relate to, not because of what she had done but because of what she was, because of the way she talked to us. We warmed to her, because she was a warm person. The two plays contrast well. The two performances were equally impressive. Perhaps my reaction was just a personal one. Perhaps Behn was like a polished jewel, impressive but cold, whilst Gwyn was approachable, charming and witty. Perhaps my reaction was a reaction to the individual personalities of these 17th Century Career Girls, which would indicate that the authors/actresses and the parts had merged completely. I enjoyed the show!
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