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The
Edinburgh Fringe
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Reviews 9Caledonia Dreaming Robert the Bruce, Rob Roy McGregor, Rabbie Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Bonnie Prince Charlie.... and there's a whole string of others who have made a major impact on Scotland and/or worldwide. With all these to choose from, why is it that for so many Scots the man who most symbolises their national aspirations is Sean Connery? If, in the near future, Scotland gains full independence, guess who they'll choose for their first president! In fact, if the Church of Rome was dominant in the country, he'd probably be beatified by now! No, these are not irrelevant meanderings, out of place in a review of a play, for so many of the dreams in Caledonia Dreaming centre around this balding, 60+ year old sex symbol. For, as the title suggests, this is a play about dreams, the dreams of people dissatified with their lot in the present and looking for something better. As the play progresses their dreams intersect. For Darren, a boy from Oxgangs, at one end of the social scale, Sean Connery represents the only way he can think of to escape the life he sees stretching out before him, whilst for Eppie, whose life is an equally tedious one, consisting of an an unending round of lunches, bridge, dinner parties and the wee flask she always has with her, has the memory of the fact that, as a teenager, Connery chatted her up, and the possibilty of meeting him again give. For Jerry, a doorman at the Caledonian Hotel, the dream is singing, and passing on his demo tape to Sean Connery is his dream of escape. Lauren, an English woman who works in a sauna selling lots of little "extras", simply wants out of her life, and Stuart, a Member of the European Parliament, has grandiose plans to bring the Olympic Games to Edinburgh, and is willing to sink to any level to get what he wants. They don't achieve their dreams, but the very process of dreaming gives them something, moves them forward. An allegory of the aspirations of a nation, perhaps? As one would expect from 7:84 the performances are superb and the staging very cleverly designed and realised, making the maximum use of the tiny space that is the Pleasance Cavern. Perhaps a little too long? I felt so. There was a point which was a natural ending and yet the play continued for five or so more minutes, without anything really being added. And that is what prevents it, for me, from being a five star piece. So, I Killed a Few People... What an incredible effect this one-man show has! There was much laughter (some of it almost guilty) and some moments of pure unadulterated horror, eliciting shocked gasps from the audience. I could almost be dscribed a black stand-up! This is the story of Archie Nunn (played by David Summers), serial killer, told by himself a week before his execution. He talks about his childhood (and no, there's nothing so convenient as a broken home here), his experience of prison life, his killings and his forthcoming execution. Woven into it are comments on his "normal" life: an advertising copywriter, it is his ambition to create a catchphrase which everyone will remember. Summers has a remarkably mobile face which can change from normality to an insane glare and back again in a fraction of a second, and he makes full use of it. It is difficult to fault this production. Even the music played just before the show goes up makes an nicely ironic comment. It is Ben Vereen's version of Bye Bye Love from the film All That Jazz, the story of Bob Fosse. Those who know the film will recognise the subtle changes of emphasis within the song which make it very appropriate here. The intimacy of the Studio serves to heighten the impact of this very powerful piece of work. Excellent! Psycho Babble On In the words of Miss Jean Brodie, "For those who like that sort of thing, that s the sort of thing they like." Psycho Babble On is a sex comedy about a sex therapist and a psycho-analyst who are living together and let out their spare room to a young couple whom they use as fodder for their theories. A mixture of Carry On and Benny Hill, with a touch of the Confessions of a... series, and a bit of rather gratuitous male nudity thrown in for good measure, it has its funny moments, but there are better ways of spending your Fringe time. Next page - - - Index |
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